First Online Casino
Online casinos are Internet versions of land-based casinos; they accept wagers on slots, table games, bingo, and more. By enabling players to gamble over the Internet, online casinos have managed to effectively capture market share in the greater gambling industry. This was traditionally limited to and dominated by land-based casinos and oftentimes limited to certain countries and certain jurisdictions within.
The legality of online casinos is always changing, especially in the United States. However, it is our opinion that lawmakers will likely continue to be more open-minded when it comes to formal legislation surrounding online casinos. Currently, it is not illegal for US players to place a wager at an online casino. However, online casino sites operate around certain operational and banking stipulations to maintain their US-based clientele.
In 1994, Antigua & Barbuda passed the Free Trade and Processing Zone Act. This piece of legislation enabled gaming companies to acquire offshore licenses for online betting operations, including online sportsbooks and online casinos. It was the piece of legislation along with the rise of the Internet that help contribute to the boom of online casinos.
Below is further information on some of the oldest running online casinos and their current status today.
1994: Microgaming Develop the First Casino Platform According to their company history, Microgaming developed the first online casino software in 1994. However, the casino management tools and player tracking systems were not launched until 1995 implying that a fully functioning commercial online casino product was not, in fact, around in 1994. How to Play Casino Online. The first step is to register an account and make a deposit. Once your account is funded, you’ll have access to our complete online casino game library, including the Live Casino. The casino game lobby is very easy to navigate. You can search for a specific game or genre, such as slot games, table games, Blackjack.
The Gaming Club
Established in 1994, The Gaming Club is one of the world’s first online casinos. The casino itself claims to be the very first, however, in 1994 there were a handful of online casinos in their infancy stage; and by the end of 1996 several other online casinos formally launched. Nevertheless, The Gaming Club is widely accepted as the world’s first online casino in the industry.
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In its early days, The Gaming Club was widely popular leading to its founders to establish The Gaming Club Group, which included Jackpot City, Showdown, and Home Casino. By 2004, The Gaming Club Group was purchased by Carmen Media Group and the group merged it with other online casinos under the company name, Belle Rock Group.
The Gaming Club is still up and running today, and it is one of the leading online casino brands under the Belle Rock Group company umbrella. It is powered by Microgaming and licensed under the Malta Gaming Authority.
Despite being around since the 1990’s, The Gaming Club still does not accept players from the United States. However, several other countries and regions still have access to this online casino, including the United Kingdom and China.
The Gaming Club offers plenty of games to choose from, such as online blackjack, craps, roulette, video poker, and several online slot titles. They also offer a $350 match deposit bonus for new players.
First Online Casino Slots
InterCasino
InterCasino is another online casino that has withstood the test of time. It was formally founded on November 17, 1996, and is still operational to this day. In 1996, InterCasino was formed by an Ohio bookmaker, William “Billy” Scott. Just two years later, in 1998, he was brought down by US authorities for illegally accepting online sports wagers and the online casino was subsequently acquired by CryptoLogic.
Over the years InterCasino has upgraded its game offering. In 2002, around the time of the online poker boom, they started InterCasinoPoker. Their commitment to adapting to industry trends and excellence across the board has yielded several accolades as well. In 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Gambling Online Magazine voted InterCasino as “Top Online Casino”. In 2007, it came in second place.
CryptoLogic was later acquired by Amaya Gaming Group in 2012 and the sale included all of CryptoLogic’s sites, including InterCasino. Amaya is now known as The Start Group and is a publicly traded company on the Canadian Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.
Up until 2006, InterCasino was accepting wagers from US-based players. Due to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, this is no longer the case. However, InterCasino is fairly popular in the United Kingdom.
The casino uses CryptoLogic software and is licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority. The game offering is plentiful at InterCasino as there are over 250 games to choose from. Including table games such as blackjack and roulette, online slot games, and more. If you are a new or returning player at InterCasino you’ll be pleased to know that there are a few different bonuses to choose from as well.
Intertops
As we previously mentioned, by 1996 there were several online casinos that were fully functional, many of which were powered by Microgaming. Among these sites was Intertops. Intertops is most notably known as being the world’s first online sportsbook having accepted the world’s first online sports wager in January of 1996. Due to the development lead by Microgaming, Intertops quickly became one of the oldest online casinos as well.
Operating out of Antigua and Barbuda, Intertops still exists today. Additionally, they accept wagers from US-based players (as of 2015) despite having only allowed American players on their site based on invites in the early days of their operation.
In 2008, Intertops’ license expired with Microgaming and they switched to RealTime Gaming (RTG) as their primary gaming provider and developer. Today, Intertops offers online sports betting, live betting, online poker, and online casino games such as table games and slots. Like their gaming options, there is a lot of variety when it comes to new player bonuses, including a 100% casino sign-up bonus.
English Harbour Casino
Operating out of St. John’s in Antigua, English Harbour Casino is another major online casino that has been around since the mid-1990’s, 1997 to be exact. Licensed from Antigua and Barbuda, English Harbour Casino is part of the larger gaming group, English Harbour Gaming Ventures, which owns and operates several other online casinos such as VIP Slots and Millionaire Casino.
Other than its longstanding history and generous bonus offering the casino itself does not come highly recommended. It is available to US-based players, however, they only offer around 80 online games, which include online slots and video poker.
Regardless of its ratings from players English Harbour Casino has been active in the gaming industry for a long time and has managed to avoid major controversy.
Online Casinos Today
Today, online gambling (both at casinos and sportsbooks) is more popular than ever before. It seems like each year there is a new online casino that opens and offers yet another gaming option for players.
Furthermore, major governments such as the United States and the United Kingdom are beginning to embrace the online gaming industry and understand that previous laws and regulations may need to be reconsidered to sure up the industry. In turn, this will create a safer and more trustworthy market for online bettors. For example, thanks to the Gambling Act of 2005, online gambling in the UK is now legal and regulated. Additionally, in 2010 the state of New Jersey became the first state in America to legalize certain forms of online gambling and other states are starting to follow their lead.
Most of the older online casinos are still operating to this today and the online gaming industry is showing little-to-no signs of slowing down in terms of both development and popularity.
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This is a developing story and will be updated with more information as it becomes available.
DraftKings Casino became the first legal West Virginia online casino on Wednesday.
DraftKings took its online sports betting partnership with Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Racesto the next level. In addition to accessing the casino through the DraftKings betting app, customers can play on its new standalone casino app.
West Virginia Lottery Director John Myers issued a statement about the launch.
“This is the culmination of a great deal of hard work and planning over the course of the last year, and we are looking forward to the licensing and approval of our other casinos and their affiliated providers when they are ready to do so.”
West Virginia became the fourth state to offer online casino gambling, joining Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
About the DraftKings Casino app
DraftKings Casino is available for both iOS and Android. The online casino app offers many of the same casino games you will find in a brick-and-mortar casino, including:
- Blackjack
- Three Card Poker
- Keno
Online slots have yet to make an appearance, but you can bet they will show up shortly. A press release from the company makes no mention of upcoming games, but the lack of a five-card-draw style poker option is sure to cause demand for such a game among WV gamblers.
State Del. Shawn Fluharty gave us the first look at the online casino app.
Well, hello there. iGaming is live in WV: pic.twitter.com/NT9A7gG3Ro
— Shawn Fluharty (@WVUFLU) July 15, 2020
DraftKings Casino in West Virginia joins NJ and PA
The WV Lottery Interactive Wagering Act automatically became law in March 2019 after Gov. Jim Justice failed to sign or veto the bill. The lottery was then tasked with establishing regulations and the licensing process.
As the lottery was getting started, Myers went to Pennsylvania for advice.
Myers told WV Metro News back in December 2019 that he felt good about the process of establishing regulations after meeting with PA officials.
“They are set up very familiar to how we are. It’s kind of a relief. It gave us a little confidence that we’re headed in the right direction.”
DraftKings Casino is already available in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. One thing we know for sure is DraftKings may be the first, but it certainly won’t be the last online casino to launch.
Other casino brands on the horizon for West Virginians
Three other online casino platforms that WV residents and visitors should look out for already have a foothold in the state for online sports betting. Those are iGaming products from Flutter and MGM.
Flutter owns FanDuel, which has a market access agreement for the Mountain State with The Greenbrier Casino Club in White Sulphur Springs. The same also operates a FanDuel Casino product in NJ and PA.
Flutter also owns another online gambling vertical that video poker players are quite familiar with, PokerStars. Should DraftKings continue to essentially cede the market for five-card poker games in WV, PokerStars could easily dominate that niche in the state.
BetMGM might have something to say about that, however. Like Flutter, it operates an online casino product in NJ and PA. Also like Flutter, it has a sports betting agreement with The Greenbrier.
While DraftKings enjoys a “monopoly” right now, that may not be the situation for long. For that reason, the pressure is on DraftKings to exploit its advantage while it can.
Benefits of being the first to market
DraftKings already enjoys name recognition in WV. The challenge for the company now is making West Virginians aware of its casino offerings.
Current DraftKings Sportsbook customers should expect a marketing barrage complete with promos for trying out the product. For DraftKings app users, this will be a simple process, as the branding and interface will be very familiar.
Making it even more convenient is that current DraftKings users in WV won’t have to register new accounts to play casino games. All they have to do is log in with their existing credentials. They can use the same funding sources as well.
By being the first to market, DraftKings can set expectations for people in WV. Simply put, because there are no competitors right now, DraftKings doesn’t have to worry about customers perceiving another brand as superior in any way.
The launch has already had a positive effect on DraftKings. Its stock rose by three points after Wednesday’s announcement. If it turns its head start into a dominant market share, that should prompt a further rise.
First Online Casino
Although having several operators will offer a competitive marketplace for WV gamblers, someone had to be first. Those players will now have their say about whether DraftKings’ online casino is worth the hype.