Almost everyone can agree that technology has changed everything. Much like the car paved the way for our current road systems, technology is changing every aspect of our lives. Gone are the days of dial-up internet and palm pilots.
The gambling industry is no different. Brick-and-mortar casinos are still active and profitable, but the more that they continue to accept the influences of technology, the more relevant they become.
Technology is continually growing and improving to keep up with an increasing population. The gambling industry was quick to accept the possibilities of technology, and online gambling was born.
As technology has changed, betting sites have grown as well. This blog will look at how technology is changing gambling and what changes I predict are still to come.
If there is one thing that has had the most impact on betting in recent years, it is the invention of cryptocurrency.
For those of you who don’t know, cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses encryption to generate and transfer money without relying on a traditional bank.
so it is entirely digital.
There is also no intrinsic value in cryptocurrency. The value of cryptocurrency is created by the number of people purchasing and using the digital currency. Transactions in cryptocurrency are instantaneous and global.
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, and it is still the most popular form of digital currency. Many online gambling sites have adopted Bitcoin as one of their payment methods. Some favorite gambling websites that use Bitcoin include Bovada, Slots LV, and Wild Casino.
Other commonly-accepted cryptocurrencies include Litecoin and Ethereum. There are even casinos that are Bitcoin exclusive, so they don’t allow physical forms of currency at all.
The best thing about digital currency is that gambling websites almost always allow you to deposit without extra fees. When using credit cards or wire transfers to deposit to an online gambling account or withdraw from the same account, there are practically always fees for each transaction.
The cost varies depending on the website and type of transaction. In most cases, these fees cover the casino’s expenses of processing transactions. But because Bitcoin has no central bank, it doesn’t incur any processing expenses.
Gamblers also appreciate the anonymity of cryptocurrency. All you need to use Bitcoin is an email address, and the accounts are not directly linked to your identity. Instead, you are assigned a random set of 30 or so characters known as your address.
The security of cryptocurrency is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is entirely secure, so only the person with the private, encrypted key can send or access the currency.
The downside of this security is that all transactions are completely irreversible.
If you accidentally add an extra zero or send your money to the wrong place, there is no one you can call to fix it for you. If you forget or lose access to your key to your private address, there is no way to get your digital money back. Usually, the key is connected to your email, though, so it’s hard to lose.
One potential problem with cryptocurrency is that governments and major financial institutions are still figuring out how to handle this new global form of currency. In February, a major online casino in Australia made a move to begin accepting cryptocurrency.
But on the day that it was supposed to be rolled out, the Northern Territory Gaming Commission issued an informal ban on using cryptocurrency for gambling. However, I am hopeful that as cryptocurrency continues to gain popularity with the general public, governments and gaming agencies will jump on board.
Cryptocurrency is already influencing the gambling industry as more and more people choose this secure, anonymous, instantaneous digital currency over traditional credit cards or bank accounts. The more that it is used, the stronger the encryptions become, and the more people will learn about it.
New forms of cryptocurrency are continuously being added to the market. As more financial institutions and government agencies develop their policies on digital currency, the gambling industry will have to adjust to new regulations.
It seems that digital currency is here to stay, and the gambling industry is one of the first to take advantage of all that it has to offer.
When it comes to online gambling, there are two significant concerns. Is my information secure, and are the games that I am playing fair? Encryption and random number generators, or RNG, are the most important aspects of technology for ensuring both kinds of security.
Encryption is a process that takes information sent over the internet and transforms it into a code that can only be read by the computer that it is sent to. Encryption prevents outsiders from being able to read your information.
If you are contacting customer service, encryption should prevent those customer service employees from accessing account information like your password.
Secure sockets layers, or SSL, is one of the ways that you can see if your information is encrypted. In most cases, your virus protection software will also include SSL on your end to make sure that your data is encrypted before it goes out, while the website should have another level of encryption as they receive your information.
Some sites will have an SSL logo on the webpage somewhere to let you know that it is being used. The URL bar of your internet browser should have a symbol of a lock, “SECURE” written in green letters, or the first part of the web address printed in green.
The newest form of encryption is called blockchains. Blockchains are the encryption technique used in cryptocurrency. Each digital transaction creates a block that is connected to all the other blocks.
The block is a permanent record of the trade that cannot be tampered with because of the blockchain’s peer-to-peer network.
A peer-to-peer network means that instead of connecting to a central server to verify information, the computer compares the information with the other copies located on the peer-to-peer network.
Every part of the network will have a copy of every transaction, so anything that looks different from something else on the system gets flagged as unverified.
Blockchains were invented for use within the cryptocurrency system, but many other systems have already begun to recognize their value. People have started using blockchains for sensitive things like voting and copyright protection.
As blockchains continue to expand, it is likely they will be used to make all of our financial transactions more secure, particularly gambling.
If we can begin to use blockchains to create a record of wagers, it would be virtually impossible for casinos to refuse payout because the block would be irrefutable.
Random number generators are essential for making sure that the game you are playing is fair. No one wants to bet against a stacked deck.
RNG technology ensures that the cards, dice, and slots are entirely random. Casinos with an RNG cannot force the game in favor of the house. Reputable gambling websites will publish information about their RNG software, including independent tests of its validity.
Customers want to know that their information is secure and private, and they want to know that the games are fair. The continuous improvement of encryption and RNG technology will force the gambling industry to do its part to protect its customers.
The future of blockchain encryption is wide open, and it will be interesting to see how blockchain encryption can be used to improve security for online gamblers.
Current technology has increased the mobility of everything from shopping to banking to health tracking and everything in between. Almost everything on the internet can be accessed from the cell phone in your pocket.
Smartphones have made gambling more accessible than ever as well. Most online casinos use HTML5 software that makes it possible for you to access your account on your mobile device.
Cellular technology has made it possible to play almost any game, anytime, anywhere. But technology has done more than make most games available on your phone. The two most significant advances in gambling technology are live gaming and live streaming.
A few years ago, you could gamble online and maybe even play on your phone, but the options were limited to things like slots and video poker.
The connectivity of recent technology, including social media networks, has made many gamblers interested in playing games together.
Live games allow players to play poker just like they would in person with the same amount of interaction, except that they play online. Bettors play against each other, instead of against a computer, in real time.
Live poker has brought back one of the most important aspects of poker that was missing with online games: the ability to interact with other players. You can’t bluff when you are playing against the computer.
Games like poker require interaction with others as a central strategy. So live poker brought together the accessibility of online games with the strategy and interaction of in-person games to create the best of both worlds.
Right now, poker seems to be the primary type of game that offers a live online version. There are a few table games that offer live dealer versions as well. As live poker increases in popularity, live gaming will continue to spill out into different types of gambling.
I predict that live gaming will create a whole new set of strategies that can be used to detect your opponent’s bluff, simply because some things like body language or “tells” are more difficult to see over an online connection.
Just as we have all learned texting shorthand like “lol,” we will also develop a new type of live gaming shorthand that can be used strategically to get inside your opponent’s head without being in the same room as them.
Another aspect of technology that is influencing the gambling world is live streaming. Everyone can now stream live video to their various devices. Online sportsbooks have already started incorporating live streaming into things like horse race betting.
Live streaming will continue to be used to stream all sorts of sports so that people can watch the game they placed a bet on from the sportsbook site directly.
Live streaming can also be used to broadcast information about stakes.
For example, pari-mutuel betting in horse races is when the potential payout for the wager is based on how many people placed a bet and for how much. The live stream could include information about how many people are already in a particular pool to help you decide which one to bet on.
Professional poker games are often broadcast on television, and watching these broadcasts is an excellent way for novice bettors to learn from the experts. Live streaming can make it even easier to access videos of experts in action.
Esports competitions have become increasingly popular over the last five years, and that’s at least partly because of live streaming.
There were several esports competitions before live streaming, but they could only be viewed in person or on some dedicated television channels that were usually only available in places like South Korea. Live streaming made it possible for anyone with an internet connection to tune in to watch the competition.
the gambling industry seized the opportunity to make money from a new form of gambling.
Now you can use almost any online sportsbook to bet on the winner of video game competitions based on odds just like you would bet on a football or basketball game.
Esports betting is quickly becoming one of the most popular types of gambling, and because it is so new, it will continue to grow and change rapidly. Right now, official bets are primarily limited to win bets for the players and tournaments and props bet on which level the game will end on.
There are some social and fantasy types of bets that are generally run person to person instead of through a bookmaker.
As this industry continues to expand, gamblers and bookmakers will develop new stakes specific to esports. Skin betting, where players bet skins that can be used in the game instead of money, is an example of a type of gambling that is specific to esports.
Technology has revolutionized the gambling industry, and the changes it brings are not likely to stop any time soon. Cryptocurrency is allowing people to make their deposits securely, instantly, and globally.
Blockchain encryption will continue to grow in its impact on security measures. RNG software will continue to make sure that the odds are fair when you play against the house.
The options of live dealer games will continue to expand, and live online players will begin to develop their own strategies specific to that type of gambling.
Live streaming will enable more people to watch games and have information instantaneously, especially when it comes to betting on esports.
They will ensure the security of online bettors and offer greater access to many different types of games.
I can’t wait to see how gamblers begin to develop new strategies and ideas based on this technology so that the gambling world can continue to grow.
The post Technology and the Gambling Industry – What Does the Future Hold? appeared first on GamblingSites.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment