Here at RabidGeek, we like to delve deeply into the ways that technology affects our lives.
Changing technology restructures our society, and one place that is especially evident is in the way we gamble.
Gambling has been around for a long time. Greek and Roman pots have been excavated that depict sports betting. Ancient Egyptians used dice to gamble, and the ancient Chinese played a game called ‘white pigeon ticket’.
In recent years, the internet has completely changed the gambling landscape. Technology has flipped the industry on its head: consumers now have the power to pick and choose, but they can also find themselves exploited by irresponsible and opaque web-based gambling systems.
Here are a few of the ways in which technology has altered the way we put our money down.
High Stakes, High Tech
High stakes gambling is risky business. It certainly isn’t recommended for the faint hearted. Lives have been broken and fortunes have been made on single bets. High stakes gambling is an economy in and of itself, and as such, it might be about to get its own cryptocurrency.
According to Forbes, a gambling cryptocurrency would solve one of the major problems that international high rollers face – moving money around the world can be expensive. By creating a currency common to gamblers, the inventors hope to allow casinos to offer favorable withdrawal rates to their prized customers.
Poker, Without the Poker Face
Poker, that ever popular pastime, has always moved with the times. Casinos were quick to install video poker machines in huge numbers in the 1970s. More recently, technology has opened the game to a much wider audience. People unwilling or unable to go to glitzy casinos or dodgy back room games can play from the comfort of their own homes.
In 1998, the first real money online poker games were released by Planet Poker. This was the beginning of an explosion. Online poker is now a huge multi-million-dollar industry. The vast majority of players do so for entertainment purposes. Competition and tournament games are livestreamed and draw in crowds of virtual spectators looking to see some mathematical mastery.
Bingo!
Bingo has been played in some form since the 1500s, when it was popularized in Italy. The game has been largely unchanged since the 1700s when French aristocrats made the game fashionable. The advent of online bingo has completely changed the landscape. No longer is bingo associated with retirement homes and pub back rooms. A multitude of takes on the classic low stakes gambling game are available on the internet.
New online bingo sites have sprung up in their hundreds. Understandably, consumers have been known to have trouble negotiating the market. Comparison websites have emerged, allowing bingo players to choose the right site for them. Although online bingo comes in many forms, its core premise of being a game of numerical chance remains constant. Young people now make up a sizable share of online bingo players.
The game doesn’t look like it is going to disappear any time soon.
