Online Casino Facts
Online casinos are a huge part of the gambling industry, with a range of games on offer from slots, to roulette, to blackjack and your favourite casino games. For some games, such as poker, online tournaments can be high-profile and offer big prizes. Once you start looking into the world of online casino games, you quickly start uncovering fascinating facts…
Fact Number 1: Online casinos are nearly as old as the Internet.
The internet as we know it was created in 1991, and by 1994 Microgaming had launched The Gaming Club. Now, of course, there are thousands of online casinos worldwide, and the number keeps growing.
Fact Number 2: Slot machines are now almost completely online.
A massive 90% of slots players play their games online. Considering the huge number and range of slots games available, with every possible theme from traditional fruit machines to fantasy, historical, or horror style games, that’s not a big surprise. According to the UK Gambling Commission, online slots gaming tripled between 2015 and 2018.
Fact Number 3: At any time, 1 in 10 internet users is gambling.
Yes, that’s right. 11% of internet activity worldwide is made up of gamblers using online casinos. For comparison, something like 30% is, umm, adult entertainment.
Fact Number 4: Roulette is “the devil’s game.”
Roulette is sometimes called “the devil’s game” because the total of all the numbers on the wheel is 666. If you were thinking that means gambling is the devil’s work, think again: roulette was created by a mathematician as an experimental perpetual motion machine, not a casino game. Fortunately for players and croupiers all over the world, the experiment was not a success.
Fact Number 5: Online gaming’s biggest win went to a newcomer.
When you think about winning big at casino games, you probably think of Vegas. Most people do. But it was a player from Finland who scooped the biggest online win in casino history. The lucky winner had been playing for just 30 minutes when he won nearly 18 million euros. Europe has a great track record for online jackpots: the world’s biggest online slots jackpot (£13.2 million) went to a player from Cardiff in 2015. His stake? 25p.
Fact Number 6: In some places, citizens can ONLY gamble online.
There’s at least one place in the world where residents are banned from gambling in person, but they can still get their kicks online. That place? Monaco. Yes, Monaco with the glamorous, world famous casinos that feature in James Bond movies. It seems only tourists and superspies get to step inside that elegant world.
Fact Number 7: You can gamble online without spending a penny.
Many online casinos offer demo play, or completely free play, on many games from slots to cards. For example, The Phone Casino gives you a number of free spins on their slots every day. You won’t win money playing this way, but you won’t lose it either. If you want the casino experience without the risk, this is the way to go.