Online casino games, also known as virtual casino games, derived from the original, land based casino games. Casinos have been in vogue since ages and online casinos came into being in the mid 1990s. Once the online casino games started, there was no looking back. For the past more than a decade, online casino games have quenched the thirst of avid gamblers throughout the world.

The first online casinos

There is some debate about the start of online casino games. Some claim that the first online casino was started on August 18th 1995 when Internet Casinos Inc. first offered the public the online access to the National Indian Lottery. However, Intertops Casino and Sports Book and The Gaming Club also claim that they started online casino games before Internet Casinos Inc. did. In fact, the first online sports book was launched by Intertops Casino and Sports Book before Internet Casinos Inc.

In 1996, The Interactive Gaming & Communications Corp launched a second sports book. Very soon, Interactive Gaming & Communications Corp became a publicly listed company on NASDAQ.

In the UK, Atlantis launched online casino games for the first time. It was licensed in the Isle of Man. Atlantis became one of the pioneers in the online casino industry and developed new features that took online gaming to newer heights.

Tax issues

In the USA, where the gambling laws are quite stringent, the online casinos mostly operate from the Caribbeans. Since the Free Trade and Processing Zone Act was passed in Antigua & Barbuda in 1994, the Caribbean islands have become a haven for online casino games. In some of the countries of Europe and Asia, online casino games are now very popular because the government is also an active stakeholder in these casinos. The government of Liechtenstein, in fact, operates an international online lottery in six different languages to attract international gaming traffic.

The scenario now

Online casino games have caught on like wildfire. With the speed of the Internet increasing by leaps and bounds, gamers worldwide have now started indulging in online casino games like never before. At present, there are more than 450 websites that offer online casino games and the total value of the market for online casino games now stands at about 50 billion USD worldwide.

Online casino games are here to stay and their popularity is never going to go down in the face of ease of use and benefits.

By Craig Walkrowin
The author loves play live games on the internet, please visit his website links to learn more about games and also to find out where you can enjoy play live games on the internet.