We’ve spoken before, at length, about the future of gambling – hell, this entire blog is specifically about this topic! We’ve discussed it at length, speaking about how virtual reality will allow us to enjoy gambling in a completely new way (a prediction which actually came true, as evidenced by the fact that Microgaming recently won an award for VR Roulette), or how we can learn a few valuable lessons from videogames in order to build a more interesting community for gamblers. But something which I’ve never done – something which I’ve wanted to do practically since starting the blog – is talk about individual games and how they may continue to develop in the future. Honestly, I’ve got no idea why I waited this long to do it, but now that I’ve started, I might as well just go with it!

The first game I’d love to examine is blackjack, simply because it tends to be rather unique among casino games. Too many games to count use playing cards, but by far the most famous one in a casino environment, excluding poker (which is kind of like an entirely different beast, since you don’t play against the casino), is blackjack. So, how would blackjack, or more particularly online blackjack, move into the future? Well, I don’t really think that virtual reality is the answer here. There’s really no point in wearing a giant, heavy visor on your head just to play some cards, not when your tablet is actually going to do a much better job. Now, augmented reality, on the other hand, such as Microsoft’s Hololens, is absolutely the tool for the job!

For those of you who don’t know the difference, go back and re-read my previous articles, but the gist of it is that virtual reality replaces the entire environment around you with something brand new, while augmented reality simply changes some aspects of it. With virtual reality blackjack, you’d be transported to a virtual casino, while with augmented reality you’d be able to play on your own desk, with virtual cards. Obviously, I fully expects sites like https://www.topcasinos.org.uk/ to fully cover these new Hololens features, maybe even expanding into a new section just about them. I mean, there’s always the fact that they won’t really acknowledge them, but I personally don’t see why, since playing in augmented reality would be just as good as playing online blackjack with real money, if not better. I don’t really see the need for an entirely separate site dedicated to AR blackjack, but… Let’s not kid ourselves, chances are they’re going to show up soon enough.

Overall, blackjack is one of those games which, unlike slots, wouldn’t really benefit too much from the advances in technology. While having automatically dealt cards right in front of you wherever you are would be amazing, I think we can all agree that AR blackjack probably wouldn’t revolutionize the industry. Or maybe you don’t agree and I’m just delusional. Either way, let me know by clicking the Contact button!

The Oculus Rift is, in some ways, one of the most important inventions of the 21st century, at least when it comes to entertainment. Virtual reality has been a coveted dream of science fiction authors for generations, right up until Oculus stepped in and announced that they could actually make it come true. They had the technology, and all we had to do was wait… and back up their Kickstarter campaign, of course. And back it we did, allowing Oculus to receive almost $2.5 million for the development of their Rift. In the four years since then, numerous companies, including Samsung, HTC, Google and Sony, have all attempted to create their own virtual reality headsets, with varying degrees of success. It’s no question that we’re currently living in the era of VR, for better or for worse. Despite the fact that half of the peripherals aren’t even out yet, we’re already seeing some major uses for VR not just for videogames, but also for simulations, movies, even online casino (as evidenced by the VR roulette prototype that Microgaming developed).

But things aren’t all roses and butterflies. The first problem that arose was when Oculus allowed itself to be purchased by Facebook despite the fact that fans invested so much money into their product. At the end of the day, even if it’s not explicitly stated, isn’t a Kickstarter campaign an unwritten agreement that the company will remain independent? After all, why did they even need the fans’ money if they were just going to end up taking Facebook’s too? But hey, maybe $2.5 million wasn’t enough for their ambitious project, so they needed a bit of extra support from Facebook in order to make their dream project come true. I can understand that. What I don’t understand is how a company that is owned by Facebook, of all corporations, managed to be so completely disorganized.

Despite the fact that Oculus launched officially a few days ago, most people who have paid the rather hefty $600 pricetag for one don’t seem to have a unit. Only a couple of the people who supported the Kickstarter campaign back in 2012 seem to have received a unit. Those who pre-ordered one back in January need to wait until later this year. And if you buy a Rift right now? You’ll be getting it in July at the very earliest. JULY! Have you ever paid for a $600 piece of technology that you won’t actually get for over 3 months? Yeah, me neither, and I’m not planning to! This is a terrible business model!

And what about the shady things found in the Rift’s terms of service? Basically, since this is now technically a Facebook product, it’s going to be monitoring your activities and using them to target ads for you, which is what Facebook has been doing for a really long time. But now we’re no longer just limiting ourselves to search histories and liked pages, oh, no! We’re talking stuff like body size, movements, you name it. In other words, if the Oculus decides that you’re fat, you’re gonna start seeing weight loss ads on Facebook. Marvelous. And worst of all, any content that you create with the use of the Oculus can be used by Facebook for pretty much anything without permission and without payment. Say you decide to create a 3D model using the Oculus to view it in 3D while you sculpt. Well, too bad, that 3D model is practically owned by Facebook now. Enjoy!

By all accounts, the Oculus Rift is a pretty solid piece of hardware. Which makes all of the shady things happening around it all the sadder. I hope that a year or two from now, when the dust settles, we’re only going to remember the good things about the Rift. But right now, this otherwise very promising product simply isn’t worth most people’s time, money and energy, especially not with all the alternatives which seem to work just as well or even better.

Welcome back! In my last article I spoke a bit about how future technology could be implemented to enhance the online casino experience. In particular, I spoke about virtual reality goggles, such as the Oculus Rift, and how they could be used to transport the user into a virtual casino without requiring them to go anywhere. Imagine putting on a pair of glasses and suddenly finding yourself in a realistic-looking casino that’s all to yourself. But while this might sound like a brilliant idea to some of us, others will probably find it a bit inconvenient. After all, even putting aside the fact that you need to dedicate some time specifically to casino games without being able to multitask while doing it, the whole ‘virtual reality’ thing might be a bit too much for those who are more interested in the money aspect of gambling than in the casino experience one. But what if I told you that there is a way to get the best of both worlds?

Holograms – No Longer Sci-Fi Nerds’ Wet Dream

Holograms have been around in science fiction ever since the 19th century, but they didn’t really become a staple of the genre since “Star Wars” (“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi… You’re my only hope”). And it’s actually quite easy to see how – the idea of a three-dimensional image that could be projected upon any surface sounded really advanced, but not as advanced as something like artificial intelligence or faster-than-light travel. It seems like something that would be feasible within our lifetimes, maybe not exactly in the form that we’ve seen on “Star Trek” or “Total Recall”, but at least one that is close enough. And wouldn’t you know it – that prediction turned out to be true! At E3 2015 (the largest gaming convention in the world), Microsoft thoroughly demonstrated their brand new HoloLens. Basically, this is a pair of glasses (not goggles like the large and heavy Rift, just a pair of relatively ordinary glasses with plastic lenses) that allow you to see holograms right there in the living room. For example, take a look at this guy playing “Minecraft” on his coffee table:

Impressive, isn’t it? The HoloLens have multiple applications (another one I liked was the ability to open a “portal” to the “Minecraft” world on your wall and peek through it in three dimensions, as if it’s really a hole in the wall connecting you to a physical world on the other side. But my favourite feature of all is the HoloLens’ ability to create physical objects that aren’t really there, and to give the user the ability to interact with them by touching them. In the demo presented at E3 (which showed something rather similar to the image above), the presenter was able to move the “Minecraft” world popping out of the table with his fingers, pulling it up in order to reveal the caves underneath the surface. Something like this could revolutionize gaming, and not just videogaming!

Are You Talking About A Holographic Casino?

You bet I am! Imagine a casino created out of holograms right there in your room! Imagine sitting down behind your computer, doing your own thing, maybe writing that report that your boss has been nagging you about for, like, half a week now, perhaps listening to music or watching a movie or something like that… And meanwhile, you look down at your desk, where a Blackjack hand has been dealt to you. You tap your fingers down on the table every time you need a new card, hoping to get that much needed 21. You also have your chips, which you can physically drag around in order to readjust your bet. Sure, it’s not the same without physical feedback (which holograms can’t provide), and there’s bound to be some lag every once in a while, but it’s literally as close as we’re going to get to playing blackjack at home without a friend who’s willing to pay up when we win. Or imagine a slot machine that’s right there in the corner of your house, allowing you to physically pull the level and watch the rolls start going. And once again, keep in mind that we’re only limited by our own imagination – the slots aren’t really there, so they could do plenty of fun stuff that physical slots can not, like a cartoon slot jumping around happily when you win big. Of course, that’s not necessarily limited to your home – I mean, I’m sure that the HoloLens will require wi-fi in order to perform these particular functions, but imagine being outside at a bus stop and having a slot machine right in front of you. Sure, you’re going to look ridiculous constantly reaching out and grabbing nothing, but who cares – it’d be way more engaging than slotting on your phone! The HoloLens, and the other holographic devices that are sure to follow in the next 10 years, could revolutionize online gambling, revitalizing it and making it more accessible than ever before!

If 10 years ago somebody had come to me and said “Hey, Charlie, in the future we’re gonna play casino games on our phones”, I literally would have laughed. Not even me, a science fiction expert who has seen “Star Wars” so many times that he can play the movie immediately as a one-man show, could believe that our clunky old phones that barely supported games like “Snake” could ever play casino games. But then the smartphone revolution happened, and all of a sudden everybody could see the potential of those little devices we previously used exclusively for talking. As technology marches onwards, we quickly discover new ways to use it that would’ve seemed ridiculous only a few years prior. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few devices that are being developed right at this very moment that could revolutionize the future of online gambling.

VR Headsets

Virtual reality has been a staple of the science fiction genre for many years. The idea of putting on a simple pair of goggles and stepping into a completely new reality was one that has captivated the minds of writers for decades. I mean, who among us hasn’t seen “The Matrix” and thought that something like that would be positively awesome? Well, in 2012, a small group of developers finally decided that it was possible to replicate this experience, at least as far as we can with currently available technology. Their project, the Oculus Rift, managed to gather almost $2.5 million on crowdfunding website Kickstarter, proving that there is tremendous interest in the market and jumpstarting a tiny VR revolution, inspiring countless imitators. The Rift is, basically, a screen that you strap onto your head, which projects a different image into each eye and creates the illusion of three dimensions, all while having an extremely sensitive gyroscope which allows the image to move in accordance with your head. Imagine putting the Rift on and suddenly being in the middle of a garden that allows you to look around as if you’re really there. Add a pair of headphones and the immersion is complete. Additionally, some companies have added other peripherals to enhance the experience, such as the Omni Treadmill, which allows you to walk around in your virtual world. And with the level of graphical fidelity that can be achieved on modern computers, it’d be relatively simple to design a small virtual world that looks almost identical to reality.

So, How Can They Be Used For Casino Games?

Obviously, a VR headset could easily be used for a more immersive online casino experience. While online gambling has moved away from this concept (mostly out of necessity), it was originally meant to emulate a real casino from your home. And what better way to do this than with virtual reality? Imagine putting on the VR set and a pair of headphones and transporting yourself to an online casino, using your keyboard and mouse to play casino games. You walk up to a real, human dealer, ask him to give you cards, then look down at the table in order to check out what you’ve got. You go to a slot – any slot you choose in the entire casino – and pull the lever down, causing the reels to start spinning in ways they never could in real life. Remember – while a 100% accurate casino experience could potentially be replicated using VR, I don’t think that would be the way to go. Virtual reality, much like the Internet itself, is a place of infinite possibilities, and I think that it’d be a bit of a waste to use it realistically. Imagine playing a slot where the characters jump out from the reels whenever you win, giving you a thumbs up or a hug. Imagine playing something like the South Park slot, and suddenly the entire casino starts being rendered in the show’s simplistic style. Or perhaps you play the Nightmare on Elm Street slot and the casino goes dark, with Freddy’s claws scraping against the wall behind you. While it won’t be very useful to people who just want to play casino games for the money, those looking for the casino experience would be absolutely thrilled by it!

Join us next time for a look at a concept that, to me, is even more exciting than virtual reality – holograms!

What does the future hold for online gambling? Are our grandkids still going to be clicking away and watching virtual rolls spin on flat screens, or are they going to play in a holographic representation of a casino inside their own room, with their personal android serving as a dealer? Nobody knows for sure, but it’s always fun to look at the past and try to guess the future based on it. After all, history does repeat itself, and while there are always differences, we can always at least try to get a general idea based on what we know.

Same Old, Same Old

Most casino games have been practically unchanged for a hundred years. We’ve got roulette, which was being played during the French Revolution; blackjack, which has been around even longer; hell, even roulette – the newest casino game that’s traditionally played – was invented in 1891, more than a century ago. There hasn’t been any innovation in our games whatsoever… But then again, why should there be? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! The beauty of casino games is in their simplicity. For a lot of them, all you need is a deck of cards and a table. That’s kind of part of the charm. Everybody’s familiar with a deck of cards, everyone knows how it works and what the cards in it are, so by definition all card games build upon knowledge that we already have. Even the games that don’t involve cards – such as roulette – still use things that we’re familiar with, such as numbers. It’s easy to accept and easy to grasp when you’re in the real world. But when you’re in the virtual one, suddenly things change. The cards and the ball are all replaced by pixels that are trying to relay the same basic concepts, but are inherently foreign to us. There are no cards on your computer screen, just digital representations of them. It’s something entirely new… Yet for some reason casino developers have stuck to recreating the same old physical games, with all their physical restrictions, into this new format of infinite possibility. Because that’s what is expected of them – when people hear the words “online casino” they imagine a casino, but online, and probably wouldn’t accept anything else. But what if it wasn’t quite like that?

Boom Of The Videoslots

For the better part of the 20th century slots weren’t really all that impressive – they were loud, unreliable, easily breakable and, in my honest opinion, a little bit boring. The concept of slots was great – you put a coin in and, depending entirely on chance, you might win or you might not. There’s no skill involved, anyone can play and it was fate that determined whether or not you win. But while the idea was brilliant, the execution was not, and as a result the game felt a little bit boring. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, really – the technology of the time just didn’t really allow for anything more spectacular than a bunch of spinning reels. In the 80s, though, everything changed with the invention of the video slot. Suddenly, slots were exciting! They were no longer just about pulling a lever and hoping for the best – the player was given more agency when it came to selecting paylines and engaging in bonus games. They had video and sound effects, they gave you free spins, and I know I already mentioned the bonus games, but holy crap, you could play a game within the game! Slots turned from a kinda boring “end justifies the means” kind of game into one of casinos’ biggest moneymakers, earning more than 30% of casino revenue, all thanks to technology. Obviously, when casino games began making the transition to the world wide web, video slots fell right at home, with some even improving upon the formula with multiple bonus games and intros that organically show the mechanics of the slot, making them more complex (and thus more interesting) than ever before. Video slots have now become a staple of both online and offline casinos, proving once and for all that there is room for innovation when it comes to casino games.

So, Where Is It?

Well, that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? In reality, online casino owners are businessmen, and businessmen notoriously hate taking chances. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as the old saying goes. Innovation costs money, and it’s extremely risky. Even though the online space provides literally infinite possibilities for all kinds of gambling games that can be created (space that the free-to-play videogame market has already explored quite rigorously, leading to literally billions in profits), casinos prefer to simply recreate the casino games that everyone’s already familiar with because they know that people will play them. On the other hand, something brand new might be played a whole lot, or it might not be played at all – it’s a bit of a gamble, and ironically enough, casino owners just don’t want to take the risk. But who knows! As the aforementioned free-to-play market grows with every passing year, perhaps some online casinos might decide to take a page from its book and start creating brand new experiences – ones that, like video slots, are best suited to the online space. I certainly hope that this would happen, at least, but considering how many years the traditional casino games have been played for, progress might be a bit farther away than we might like. Still, we can always hope, right?

Hey there, replicants! A few weeks ago, I spent a few hours just lying in bed thinking about what the future of online casinos might hold while I was supposed to be sleeping. Sure, the next morning I could barely get up for work, as I’d only had about 3-4 hours of sleep, but considering the fact that I reached some pretty interesting conclusions which ultimately inspired this site, I’d say it was worth it! I’m going to share my ideas about the future in a series of articles, each examining a different subject. You ready? Let’s get cracking!

Online Casinos And… Videogames?

I believe that videogames and online casino games have a lot of common. Obviously, there’s the whole “both are games” thing, but I’m more referring to their history. In the early 1980s, the videogame market had already crashed, and no one was really interested in videogames. To hook new players up, Nintendo decided to promote the NES – their first videogame console (well, technically second, but the first one was a Pong game, and those don’t count) – as a toy rather than as a console. Kids knew toys, so they’d also get to know this new one, right? The plan worked spectacularly, making the NES one of the most fondly remembered videogame consoles of all time (just look at how many games are coming out right now with similar 8-bit graphics) and launching a renaissance for modern gaming. Casino games actually employed many of the same tactics in order to attract their own customers – after a pretty bad start, online casinos soon began to cater to the hardcore casino crowd, as they were already familiar with the concept of casinos and would appreciate the convenience of playing from home. Both of these markets hooked their audience with familiarity, but that can only get you so far.

Diversification of the Videogame Audience

In the mid 2000s, videogames faced another crisis. The costs of developing games for newer hardware rose significantly, but the market could not support it. After all, anyone who possibly wanted to get into videogames (mostly young men – the audience that had grown up with the NES or other systems released around the same time) was already into videogames. The market was not expanding, at least not at a rate that could sustain the development cost. And then Nintendo had another brilliant idea, courtesy of its president, the great Satoru Iwata (1959-2015). While Sony and Microsoft were making their systems more powerful than ever, Nintendo developed in a different direction – approachability. Their new system, the Wii, was designed to not only appeal to gamers, but to everyone. Knowing that traditional control schemes would be too hard for most people to learn, Iwata requested that the Wii be controlled by motion, which is obviously a concept that anyone can understand. The plan was a massive success, as suddenly not only teens and young men were interested in videogames, but also young kids, girls and whole families, even senior citizens! The gaming industry was reborn, and today it is as diverse as it’s ever been, with people of all genders, ages and ethnicities enjoying it.

So, What Does This Have to Do With Casinos?

Currently, online gambling is in a very similar crisis. Everyone who could possibly be interested in it is already playing, or has attempted it and lost interest. The market isn’t growing, at least not at a desirable rate. Meanwhile, development costs rise with every year as audience expectations grow. People request stable mobile versions on multiple platforms, good-looking and technically sound games and 24/7 online support, all of which cost a lot of money on top of the already very expensive costs that come with hosting a giant casino site. Many casino sites are reporting diminished profits, with some forced into partnerships or buy-outs in order to stay in the business. But that’s a temporary solution to a permanent problem, because there’s only so many people you can appeal to by attracting the casino audience. In order to make their business sustainable, very soon casinos will need to take a page from Nintendo’s book and start to appeal to the regular Joe and Jill. Imagine a world where online casinos aren’t a niche, a world where almost everyone plays a few slots on the john before work, where your grandma asks you to set up her bingo account and you and your co-workers share tips about the best online casinos at the water cooler. That’s the world that has to happen in order for online casinos to be sustainable and profitable in the future. And, with the right marketing, perhaps it’s more real than any of us can imagine. I guess it’s only a matter of time before online gambling finds its Satoru Iwata.

-Deckard

Gamesys company’s founder and former CEO Noel Hayden has steps back and his place will be taken by the company’s COO Lee Fenton. This was announced at the staff member meeting last week. After the £425.8m acquisition of the company by the Canadian group Intertain just a few months ago, this is the second step towards the restructure of the gaming company. Noel Hayden will become Executive Chairman of the company.

Hayden is the founder of the company and he’s been serving as a CEO of the Gamesys Group since its creation in 2001. However, after the changes, Hayden will still play a leading role and will have the final call when it comes to preparing new product lines and taking company management decisions.

During his career as a CEO of Gamesys, Hayden marked some quite successful achievements, including the creation of the first real-money gambling app on Facebook in 2012. The company managed to acquire Virgin Games in a multi-million deal in 2013. Gamesys runs some of the most popular bingo sites in the UK and is a home to established brands, such as JackpotJoy and Sun Bingo. Barbara Windsor’s been the face of JackpotJoy since 2010 and they’ve created some of the most successful TV ads together. Gamesys is a multiple award-winner gaming company, utilizing their proprietary software platform.

Lee Fenton, who will take the CEO role has been with the company since 2008. He joined the team as a chief operating officer since he’s quite experienced in the field. He was previously working as a a manager of the mobile division of 20th Century Fox and he previously held the position of Global Director of Consumer Products and Content of Vodafone Group. The changes have been confirmed during the management meeting in June.

I know, I know – I have pledged to write about the future of online casino and only the future of casino, and I assure you, those articles have been prepared and will be uploaded, well… In the future. Hopefully not that far out in the future as to make them irrelevant, but we’ll see how it goes. Still, before that, I decided to address a rather serious issue publicly, inspired by the rather negative experience of a close friend of mine. This friend, let’s call her Rachael, keeping up with the little theme naming we’ve established, is American, while I’m British. We’ve been chatting for the last 5-6 years or so, and let’s just say, she’s probably the only person I know who exceeds my love for sci-fi. We often recommend things to each other, be it books, movies, games or TV shows. And you know me – I’m a pretty big fan of online casino, so I decided to recommend it to her.

At first Rachael was a bit apprehensive, not really being much of a gambler, but I assured her that it’s really more about the game than it is about the money. Finally, she decided to give it a shot, but since we’re part of completely different markets I couldn’t really recommend any particular casino to her, so she had to find one on her own. At first things are going pretty great – Rachael is winning left and right, even getting a jackpot on one of the slots. Her $30 deposit quickly turned into $300, and then into $3000. She was overjoyed! Already planning her next purchases, she attempted to withdraw her winnings, only to be greeted by a message saying that she needed to deposit at least $100 before she would be eligible to get the money she won. “Well, that’s not right”, I thought to myself and quickly looked up the casino she’d been playing at.

As it turned out, Rachael had unknowingly stumbled upon an illegal casino.

It wasn’t like she could know about it – the casino seemed genuine enough, the games worked fine, the deposit went off without a hitch… It was only at the last moment in which she found out that everything had been one big lie. And right now, Rachael (quite rightfully) blames me for the emotional rollercoaster she went through, and is firmly convinced that all online casinos are just shams. And even though you and I both know that’s very far from the truth, it’s rather easy to see things from her point of view. She didn’t just lose money – she was cheated out of them, led to believe that she had won only to have this belief completely crushed. It’s like winning the lottery and having someone steal your ticket on your way to claiming it! Obviously, this is an experience I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. But is it possible to tell a legitimate casino from an illegal one? Yes, it is, and it’s literally as easy as scrolling all the way down to the footer of the front page!

See the logos above? They belong to the Gambling Commission and eCogra, two of the numerous organizations that make sure casinos are legitimate. The Gambling Commission watch out for any fraudulent actions, making sure that gamblers are being paid quickly and properly. If a casino that’s registered with the Gambling Commission is withholding payment or is otherwise being a pain in the neck, you can always contact them and see if you can resolve the matter easily and peacefully. eCogra, on the other hand, is there to ensure that no game hoards your cash. You see, on average every casino game is supposed to pay out about 95-96% of all money invested into it to the players, with the question being whether you’ll be one of the lucky gamblers that gets more than they invested. The organization that makes sure of this is eCogra, by rigorously testing each and every single game on the casino that they’re working with by putting it through several complex algorithms. Keep in mind that not everyone uses eCogra (some casinos opt to use other companies and organizations to test their Return To Player ratios, and a few choose not to use one at all), but every single one is registered with the Gambling Commission. If the casino doesn’t have their logo in its footer, look it up on the GC website. If you can’t find it, stay the hell away from it! A useful resource is this website giving advice on the most trusted Internet casinos. Of course, that’s just true for the UK market – since I’m British, I’m not awfully familiar with what commissions the US one has to regulate its online casinos. As far as I can tell it’s done by several organizations, most notably the Division of Gaming Enforcement, but you should really do your own research about who regulates online casinos in your country before you start looking for a place to gamble.

-Deckard