How Blackjack iGaming Opportunities Have Evolved in the Digital Age

<p>Online gaming has been transformed in the digital age&period; From the early video consoles replicating classic casino games to today’s online live dealer experiences&comma; iGaming has sought to bring the unique atmosphere of real-life casinos into the homes of gamers&period; Today&comma; fans of the casino classic blackjack have plenty of gaming options&comma; but it hasn’t always been that way&period; We look at how one of the oldest casino games has evolved in the digital age&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"western">Blackjack makes its first appearance<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The first online slot game &lpar;Fruit Machine&rpar; appeared on the <span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0000ff&semi;"><u><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;retrogamer&period;net&sol;profiles&sol;hardware&sol;amstrad-cpc-464&sol;">Amstrad CPC464 personal home computer<&sol;a><&sol;u><&sol;span> in 1984&comma; but blackjack did not feature on a video game until <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;codemasters&period;com&sol;">Codemasters<&sol;a> released the compelling Monte Carlo Casino in 1989&period; Players were also treated to video versions of roulette&comma; poker and craps as well as more slots&period; At this stage&comma; the internet was still in development&comma; so multi-player online gaming was still a long way off&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"western">The dawn of the internet age<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>By the early 1990&&num;8217&semi;s&comma; full-suite casino games featuring blackjack had arrived on PC&&num;8217&semi;s&period; But no matter how realistic the gameplay and how sophisticated the graphics&comma; the lack of real money play always held them back&period; That was all about to change in 1994 when the Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda put the first internet casino licenses up for grabs&comma; and the first online bet was placed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Over the next two years&comma; improved online gambling software was developed&comma; along with encrypted communication protocols&comma; and within four years&comma; there were around 700 websites offering blackjack and other casino games&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"western">The online casino boom<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>By 2000&comma; online blackjack players had a great choice of gaming options&comma; but the best was yet to come&period; Over the next five years&comma; the industry grew from being a &dollar;2 billion niche business to a &dollar;20 billion global phenomenon&period; During that time&comma; UK territories such as the Isle of Man and Gibraltar started issuing licenses&comma; and hundreds of gambling sites were established&comma; raising the quality of the gaming experience to new levels&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Between 2006 and 2011&comma; the US government began cracking down on online casinos&comma; which often fell into grey areas of legislation&period; But while US players suffered&comma; online casinos continued to grow in the rest of the world&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"western">The mobile blackjack revolution<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>By 2010&comma; playing blackjack online was a fully immersive experience&comma; with 24&sol;7 games available on desktop PCs and laptops&period; But the rise of the smartphone meant on-the-go gaming was now a reality&period; By 2013&comma; &dollar;10 billion had been wagered on online casinos via mobile devices worldwide&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Today&comma; players can play blackjack from wherever they are as long as they have an internet-connected device&comma; and there&&num;8217&semi;s a wealth of information available to those looking for <span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0000ff&semi;"><u><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;blackjackcanada&period;ca&sol;strategies-tips&sol;">blackjack tips to win<&sol;a><&sol;u><&sol;span>&period; For an even more authentic experience&comma; there are live options that allow players to interact with real dealers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"western">What next for online blackjack players&quest;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>For around 300 years&comma; blackjack had been played exclusively in brick-and-mortar casinos all over the world&period; The internet enabled players to enjoy their favorite game from the comfort for their own homes&period; But could it be that new technology could actually take players back into the casinos&comma; albeit in a virtual world&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure style&equals;"width&colon; 1000px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;flickr&period;com&sol;photos&sol;kwoman32&sol;9592844996&sol;"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;farm3&period;static&period;flickr&period;com&sol;2806&sol;9592844996&lowbar;7b01bc0082&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Play blackjack virtually " width&equals;"1000" height&equals;"562" name&equals;"Picture 2" align&equals;"bottom" border&equals;"0" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&&num;8220&semi;PersonalCasino-Blackjack &lpar;1&rpar;&&num;8221&semi; &lpar;CC BY 2&period;0&rpar; by Kwoman32<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Virtual reality is tipped as the next big thing in gaming and could enable online blackjack players to take their seats at virtual casino tables&period; There&comma; they could face other online players or players sat in physical casinos where crossover games could be hosted&period; As equipment improves and <span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0000ff&semi;"><u><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;immerse-vr-immerse-virtual-reality-headset-review&sol;">becomes more affordable<&sol;a><&sol;u><&sol;span>&comma; the possibilities are enormous&comma; and developers have only just begun to scratch the surface&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><em>This article contains sponsored links&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;