Brick and Mortar casinos have been around for many years and chances are they will still be here for many years to come. Before 1996, land-based casinos were pretty much the only places where punters could enjoy table games and slots. However, some slots were available in gambling arcades and betting shops too – play Tomb Raider Slot.

These gambling environments were not to everyone’s taste and this restricted the cliental to a mainly male dominated one. Such environments were considered to be intimidating to some sections of society and these wannabe gamblers decided to stay away.

The Digital Age

In 1996 a new dawn for the gambling industry began. This got underway with the first online casino software being developed in 1994 by Microgaming and this was introduced properly online in 1996. What this did was to allow the very first online casino to be fully developed and available to punters on the internet. This early effort was table games focused as slots had yet to make the jump from their land-based casino origins, to a virtual world. However, during the very same year, the first virtual video slot was introduced to online casinos. It was a huge hit and it was the first slot to feature a bonus round that took punters to a second screen.

The Age Of The Virtual Video Slot

The success of Reel Em by WMS opened the floodgates for hundreds of video slots to be developed and these filled the ever-increasing number of online casinos. Nobody could predict just how successful online casinos would be and it did take gambling experts by surprise.

A major player was and still is thought to be the fact that online casinos allow punters to control the environment they gamble in. This has further been emphasized by the introduction of mobile casinos. You can gamble in the comfort of your own home or on the go and land-based casinos simply cannot compete with such flexibility.

Virtual video slots have been the major winners in this new gambling age and along with the control punters have over where they gamble, both these innovations have led to more women and people from all walks of life, feeling comfortable with gambling. Online casinos and virtual slots have brought gambling to the masses. Something that traditional gambling environments failed to do.

The Future Of Land-Based Casinos

Land-based casinos will survive this digital age but only because many brick and mortar establishments also have an online presence. Land-based casinos still offer a unique gambling experience but they cannot compete with the game choice offered by virtual casinos. Online slots casinos house hundreds of games and this is impossible for most land-based casinos to compete with because they do not have the physical space to house hundreds of slot machines. Bonuses and promotions are far more generous at online slots casinos too and again this affects the numbers visiting regular casinos. It is an uncertain time for land-based casinos but their resilience could just see them through these difficult times.