The march of progress: Major technological trends in the online casino and sports betting sectors

by TheLuckyNest

The overarching trend in the gambling world over the last few years continues to be the most significant in terms of the development of the industry: put simply, the future lies online. Whether you take an online casino or the increasingly sophisticated online sports gambling sector, the major gambling providers are all fiercely competing for a slice of the ever expanding online market.

The online casino initially brought software simulations of casino icons like Roulette, classic card games like Blackjack, and multiplayer card games like Texas Hold'Em to the online world. Later, as average broadband speed increased around the world, the addition of live feed physical casino games enhanced the online casino experience, providing a solid option for those gamblers who were perhaps suspicious of the software underpinning virtual online casino games.

The need to download software to play online casino games was another feature deemed as negative by many of the more cautious online gamblers. Concerns about installing software from a previously unknown source are of course a feature of a broad range of internet usage, beyond the gambling industry, but it is perhaps the slightly seedy reputation of unregulated overseas gambling sites that fuelled these misgivings.

In terms of the current development of the online casino industry, the move towards browser based applications that require no software download has advantages far beyond allaying the fears of cautious users. Browser based online casino games are accessible to a variety of platforms, which crucially means that both MS DOS based and Apple operating systems can view and use the same software - meaning that there is no need to develop two different versions of the same game.

However, the increasing sophistication of smart phones over the last few years has produced a perhaps inevitable showdown in 2011 between the major players fighting the technological battle for dominance of the rapidly growing mobile internet market. The Android operating system is challenging the established supremacy of the Apple iPhone, meaning that gambling industry software developers - from the online casino to live sports betting sectors - are looking at the challenge of developing software for both of the competing operating systems.

In general, the mobile betting market continues to push the development of the online gambling world. A prime example is sports betting, where increasingly sophisticated, short term in-game markets now offer more betting options for the punter than ever before - and this trend for expansive development shows no signs of slowing down in the foreseeable future.