Gamble For Free

Gambling is not a modern day invention. Its roots go back through ancient time. Archeologists and historians have found that almost all the civilizations throughout the history of the world have practiced various forms gambling. Parts of dice and other objects that are similar to modern day cards have been excavated. The first countries where gambling was very popular were Egypt, China, India and Rome.

All the casino games played today like the roulette, poker, blackjack, slots and craps have a history of their own development to the form that they are played in today’s times. Even the most famous gambling haven, Las Vegas, has a deep history. Las Vegas did not become the biggest gambling city in the world in one day… it was once an empty valley.

Online casinos are very much a modern invention with a brief history. It only began once the internet was developed. Below is an instructive chronology of the evolution of internet gambling. In recent years, the gambling industry has exploded in popularity and has been the subject of some major legal battles.

1994
- The government of Antigua-Barmuda pass the Free Trade and Processing Zone Act. Many online casinos operate under licenses granted pursuant to this legislation.
- Microgaming is founded. It’s one of first casino software developers and suppliers.

1995
- CryptoLogic is founded.

1996
- Boss Specialtidningar AB, Boss Media’s parent company, begins to develop a casino.
- Microgaming sells off land-based casino operations to concentrates on internet casino technologies.
- CryptoLogic begins developing the first eCash and gaming application.
- InterCasino is launched online, and claims to be the first online casino to accept a wager.

1997
- Boss Casinos development work is transferred to Boss Media AB.

1998
- Microgaming launches the Internet’s first progressive jackpot slot, Cash Splash.
- Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), the U.S. Congress’s primary opponent to internet gambling, introduces the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, designed to make it illegal for any company to offer an online gambling product to U.S. citizens. The bill eventually fails to pass.

1999
- Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), reintroduces a revised Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. The revised bill also fails to pass.
- Microgaming signs a deal with auditing firm Price-Waterhouse-Coopers to review and report on casino payout percentages.
- The first Australian government-licensed online casino, Lasseters, is launched. Lasseters operates under license of the Northern Territory, which moves quickly to legislate for and offer licenses to online casinos.
- Boss Media takes online gambling to a new level with the release of its multiplayer gaming software.

2000
- Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) introduces a new Internet Gambling Prohibition Act to the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill fails to attract the required two-thirds majority vote to pass.
- U.K. sovereign territories Gibraltar and the Isle of Man offer online sports betting licenses.
- Cryptologic lists on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol CRYP.

2001
- The Nevada legislature passes a bill opening the way for licensed online casinos to operate out of Nevada.
- Alderney (British Channel Islands) passes legislation for Interactive Gambling, and the Alderney Commission is now in a position to accept license applications.

2002
- U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) sponsors a bill that updates the Wire Act of 1961 to cover Internet betting - and online casinos in particular - is passed unanimously by the U.S. House Judiciary subcommittee on crime. The bill now moves to the full Judiciary Committee for consideration.
- The first ever multimillion-dollar online casino jackpot is won. A lucky player wins a massive $1.59 million playing the Microgaming progressive slot game Major Millions at Captain Cook’s Casino.

2003
- eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gambling Regulation and Assurance) is established to set standards and make online gambling safer. Arguably, this point marks one of the first moves towards regulation as member sites must follow strict safety and security guidelines.
- Another anti-gambling bill is passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill makes it illegal for payment-processing companies (credit card, bank wire transfers, etc.) to facilitate online gambling transactions.
- Playtech launches “Live Gaming” a realtime video-streamed gaming concept featuring live dealers with whom players can play and chat with.

2004
- Despite the controversy concerning the legality of online gambling, the U.S. leads the world in the number of online players, representing more than half of the overall market.

2005
- Microgaming’s progressive jackpot total exceeds $160 million and has over 5,000 happy winners.
- Playtech launches the new major version upgrade for its gaming platform.
- PartyGaming (owner of biggest online gambling site - PartyPoker.com) floats on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the biggest financial float in the city in over 4 years. The move eventually propels PartyGaming into the FTSE 100.
- A resident of Florida wins a massive $1.96 million while playing the Gold Rally slot at Carnival Casino, setting a new record for the highest paid progressive jackpot online.

2006
- Estimates place the number of online gambling sites at over 2000.
- Playtech’s shares are successfully admitted to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at approximately 548 million Pounds Sterling.
- U.S. federal agents, citing the U.S. Wire Act, arrest BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers in Dallas, Texas while he is changing planes.
- In September, the Senate passes the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2006 (H.R. 4411) after the bill is attached to unrelated legislation (Safe Ports Act) on a Friday night just before Congress breaks for its election recess. President Bush signs the bill into gambling laws on October 13. As a result of the legislation - which has exemptions for horseracing, state-run lotteries and fantasy sports.
- American financial institutions are banned from processing any transaction with an online gambling operator. Huge, publicly traded companies like Partygaming and 888.com close their operations to American players and the industry’s revenues take a major hit.

2007
- In January, the UIGEA grows fangs. NETeller, the online gambling industry’s most successful wire-transfer service, crumbles when founders Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre are arrested in Manhattan and charged with money laundering. Meanwhile, all 16 German states vote to illegalize the use of non-German gambling firms within the EU member state’s borders. The pro-gambling world fires back with a WTO ruling that the UIGEA constitutes interference with Antigua’s online horseracing books, which it ruled in 2005 were not to be messed with. Six days later, the EU takes a similar crack at the U.S., filing suit with the WTO court for the UIGEA.
- Chinese, Canadian and Turkish regulators jump on the anti-online gambling bandwagon, forcing NETeller out of their countries as well.
- AOL signs a deal with German operator FLUXX to begin offering bookmaking services to non-American clients from offices in the U.K. Ironically enough, Labor instigators in Parliament are busy at the same time flooring legislation that would crack down on Internet-gambling operators from outside of Britain. Meanwhile, South African lawmakers look into regulating online gambling.
- Austrian online operator Bwin wins its case with the Administrative Court of Appeals in Hessen and is again allowed to offer online gambling services in the German province.
- In December, major online-gambling software developer CryptoLogic buys into Mikoshi Studios for $6.1 million in a bid to expand into cellphone gambling. Yahoo and Google settle with the U.S. government for their role in the Internet-gambling market to the tune of $31.5 million.

2008
- In Europe, Belgium prepares to open its online-gambling market.
- Turkish officials detain two London-based employees of Sportingbet.
- Bwin loses two court suits against the German outside-gambling-firm ban, the first in North Rhine-Westphalia and the second in Lower Saxony. In the U.S., Kentucky lawmakers demand 141 gambling sites block the state’s residents or forfeit ownership of their URLs, and Judge Thomas Wingate orders the state seize the Web addresses until the dispute is resolved.