The online casino and sportsbook industry is continuously growing. According to the latest casino stats, the global online casino market is projected to reach $230 billion, and the numbers will undoubtedly go even higher.
One of the main reasons for the online gambling industry’s success is the fact that online casino providers are always on the lookout for new ways to attract new players and retain the existing ones. Apart from welcome bonuses and a large variety of different games, the most efficient way for casino operators to do that is by integrating the following the latest gambling trends.
Esports Betting
Even though esports betting has been around for a while, it wasn’t until recently that it cemented itself as one of the most popular gambling trends. Namely, in the past few years, esports attracted a lot of new sponsors. Because of that, the number of video games that are played competitively and the number of tournaments increased, giving players even more markets to bet on.
Esports betting experienced the biggest boom in popularity during the pandemic. As we all know, virtually all real-life sports events across the world were canceled due to various restrictions and lockdowns. With so few options to choose from, a lot of bettors turned to esports betting.
Esports betting works much like traditional betting. The only difference is that the players are betting on teams or players competing in video games rather than real-life sports. Naturally, winning an esports bet requires players to be familiar with video games rather than traditional sports, which is why esports betting generally attracts an entirely different crowd.
Cryptocurrency Gambling
Cryptocurrency gambling is a perfect blend between blockchain and online casino technology. As the name suggests, it allows players to use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin to place bets.
The reason cryptocurrency gambling became as popular is that it has quite a few advantages over using fiat currencies to make a bet. For starters, players who bet with cryptocurrencies won’t have to leave sensitive information with the casino.
While you will still have to provide personal details and have the casino verify your identity, the casino won’t’ ask you for bank account details, bank statements, and more. Instead, all you will have to use is your cryptocurrency wallet address.
Not only that, but cryptocurrency transactions are faster and have lower fees, making them popular among casino regulars.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is one of the latest trends in the gambling industry. Even though technology has been around for nearly half a century, virtual reality is still far from perfect. Not only that, but VR hardware is rather expensive, making it a lot less accessible than your smartphone or laptop computers.
In today’s time, there is a variety of VR casinos where players can join and play against others in VR. Unlike live dealer games, virtual reality has a ton more possibilities. For example, once the technology gets even better, you might be able to see other players’ body language, facial expressions, and much more.
In other words, VR might be the trend that shapes the future of online gambling and be the technology that gets you the closest to the authentic land-based casino experience.
The Bottom Line
Online casino and sportsbook operators continuously adopt new trends to cater to the needs of their players. Apart from the ones we mentioned on our list, other popular trends include smartwatch betting, live dealer games, provably fair blockchain-based games, and much more.
However, nothing is set in stone, especially when it comes to the gambling industry. While the trends we mentioned are some of the latest additions to the world of online gambling, we are positive that the new ones are right behind the corner.
