Since the invention of the telegraph, when enterprising bookkeepers saw the potential offered by instantaneous long-term communications systems to their business, the gambling industry has remained at the forefront of advances in technology and has remained there until this day. What makes the gambling industry unique in its rapid technological evolution is that this digitisation hasn’t impacted the more traditional forms of gambling, such as bingo halls and scratch cards, despite replicating both of these products in the virtual space in forms available for delivery anywhere instantly.
Beyond digitisation, technology has played a growing role behind the scenes. There are casino security systems, for example, which are now beginning to incorporate ‘smart’ technologies that can recognise particular movement patterns and predict behaviour with startling accuracy. If you are looking for an online casino to check out then you should Play Casino Games at Novibet.
Anywhere, Anytime
Just as with the invention of the telegraph, the gambling industry was very quick to recognise the potential offered by the internet; gambling in all its forms is ultimately about chance and numbers which are two things even early computers with little hardware power excel at. Having a player play a gambling game online requires only a small amount of data to be exchanged between the player and the host, and this was a big consideration in the early days of the internet, in particular during the time when broadband was scarce and an internet connection over a phone line was expensive.
There were initial concerns in some corners, which fortunately have not come to pass, that making gambling available anywhere and anytime in this manner would lead to an explosion in gambling rates and serious societal harm as a result. In fact, only a few years ago, a large-scale study found that certain types of gambling machines, which worked like slot machines but returned a win or lose almost instantly, were much more likely to be habit forming than other types where there was a delay between playing and paying out. The response from the industry has been to significantly reduce and, in many cases, eliminate entirely this type of machine from high streets.
A Casino in Your Pocket
There are an increasing number of apps offering a portable gaming experience, some offering traditional games like poker and blackjack, and others that take the form of games designed specifically to be played on a mobile device. The number of websites, such as www.casinos.co, that are compatible with most smartphones has also continuously and steadily risen, and many of these offer simple web apps that work similarly to scratch cards; costing very little money and offering instant returns, but which are more interactive and usually animated.
Security
Security has always been a prominent concern for casinos and bookmakers looking to detect and prevent fraud, including cheating. This has always been a delicate issue for casinos to manage; unless a player is cheating using a physical device or object, it is often very hard to detect a cheater, or at least prove that they are cheating. Advances in technology have arguably offered more opportunities for potential cheaters to swing the odds in their favor. A famous case involves an international ring, initially operating out of Asia, who worked blackjack tables. They used a very small camera hidden up a sleeve to capture the order of a deck when a dealer rifled through it. The camera was linked to a small computer loaded with a special piece of software that recorded the order of the cards and used that information to relay to the player whether to hit or stick. Although their abnormally good luck raised more than a few eyebrows at the casinos they hit, it took a long time for the casinos to catch on to what the gang was doing and how they operated.
With new technology like VR coming to fruition, the future of the gambling industry is an exciting and potentially revolutionary one that will continue its proud tradition of being ahead of the curve on technology.
