Online Gambling Trends to Look Forward to in 2024
Tis the season to be jolly and to look ahead towards all the hot trends in casino gambling for 2024.
Blockchain and Crypto
We here at Gambling911.com believe nothing will have a bigger impact on the internet casino sector than blockchain and crypto. This really is all the rage as we close out 2023.
The technology itself is akin to moths to a flame. Build it and the casinos will come. When looking at any list of all the new UK casinos 2024 one will start seeing more and more reference to bitcoin and other cryptos.
So why will blockchain be playing such a critical role in the world of online casino gambling?
It's all about building transparency and offering provably fair gambling platforms. Smart contracts housed on the blockchain can provide verification of a game's outcome.
Additionally payments can be made anonymously via wallets linked to exchanges and then to one's bank account. Theoretically an online casino can accept players throughout the world, even in regions where gambling is frowned upon, and not have to worry about sending funds to an address where the activity is deemed illegal. Payments are made to an anonymous wallet in the crypto space known as Anywhere, Planet Earth.
Bitcoin exchanges now allow for the easy transfer of funds in countries where this process was close to impossible.
Case in point, Gambling911.com operates from a section of Miami Beach called "Little Buenos Aires" as the makeup is mostly Argentine immigrants. Sending funds back home to Argentina was a nightmare process prior to the advent of bitcoin. A friend of ours once told us it took months for the recipient to receive money due to the limited methods available. Argentina's new government has endorsed the use of Bitcoin for contractual agreement, thus leading to a new channel for sending funds.
Anonymous crypto payments may seem on the surface to defeat the concept of blocking minors from gambling online. Quite the contrary. While, in theory at least, a child can steal his or her mum's credit card from her purse and use it to bet online, he or she would need to be a child prodigy to figure out how to set up a crypto wallet and link it to his or her parent's bank account. Ain't happening.
In case you should have any doubts, try searching "Bitcoin Casinos in Great Britain" on Google and you'll see around 6 million results.
2024 is the year the online gambling industry fully embraces blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
Enhancements With Mobile Gambling
While companies will continue to enhance their mobile casino offerings, 2024 is the year that 5G sees near full adoption in more developed countries like the UK.
Currently most major towns and cities in the UK offer 5G coverage from at least one network, though this is not necessarily the case the further one moves away from urban centres.
5G probably won't be available everywhere in the United Kingdom as complete coverage is targeted for the year 2028, however, massive inroads are expected in the coming year.
VR...We Know, We Know
2023 was supposed to be the year Virtual Reality came into its own with online casinos. It didn't.
The reality is that VR technology won't work properly without 5G technology and, as discussed above, the coverage of 5G has yet to be fully realized.
One of the primary reasons VR is yet to really take off is the cost. A VR headset will set you back a good US$300. Escaping into another realm isn't free and you still have to pay your bills in the real world, including that $300.
We're not entirely convinced lowering the cost is going to result in VR increasing in popularity.
Online casinos can do their part by promoting their VR within their platform. There is one small problem: Few offer a Virtual Reality casino.
Here's the thing. Our dear late friend Adam Anhang was among the early promoters of live dealer casinos before some Gambling911 readers were even born. Great concept but the technology was not there for the end user. We had someone testing the casino in rural New York State and she could not load it, let alone play in the live dealer casino of 2004.
Years later, live dealer casinos are all the rage and can be played just about anywhere with an internet connection.
Give it some time. In 2030 we'll be looking back to this article and joking about how we could get by without our Virtual Casino....maybe.
AI...You Won't Be Asking "Are We There Yet?"
We often find ourselves discussing how next year will be when a certain technology takes off. For Artificial Intelligence, it pretty much happened before we even had time to grasp the concept.
AI for now is mostly being incorporated into the improving of communication and customer service. Soon we are sure it will be used in game development.
At the rate AI technology is moving, 2026 may be the year humans are eradicated and replaced by robots. Until that happens, let's sit back and enjoy our favorite online casinos.
- B.E. Delmer, Gambling911.com
