Are Online Casinos Overcoming Land Casinos?

Land casinos have always been a go-to entertainment complex for many games-loving folks. These folks usually have different reasons why they go to casinos, whether to let off some steam, to relax and unwind, or they want to win huge sums of money. Nevertheless, whatever their reasons are, their visits to casinos made the gambling business thriving and becoming a multi-billion industry. Well, that may be until the birth of online casinos.

According to multiple industry experts, online casinos may be considered the nemesis of land-based casinos. Who wouldn't be enthralled by the gambling experience it offers when you can just literally do it everywhere? Especially when almost everything is done online nowadays, it's no surprise that even land-based casino operators make sure they have online counterparts to comply with growing demand.

Given that instance, there's a frequently asked question involving the two industries: are online casinos overcoming land casinos?

Over the years when the internet is becoming a need in every household, various industries like shopping, food, as well as gambling, made sure that their online presence is sought. A smart move since everyone seems to be becoming confined to the small box which is their smartphones or computers.

For an online casino (aka virtual/internet casino), it's just an online version of traditional casinos which enables players to play or wager on casino games through the internet. It has found its popularity because it saves you so much time compared to visiting actual casinos. What's more, you may not need to meet actual people if socializing isn't your cup of tea. A lot of promotions or casino bonuses are also available online to lure more gamblers to start playing for a certain website. That made online casinos a highly relevant industry, especially during the onslaught of the coronavirus.

While online casinos were already widely enjoyed from a few years back, they greatly enjoyed their fame during the start of the Coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 when everything was shut down and people were forced to stay at home. That means regardless if people enjoy live casinos more, they may need to start signing up to online casinos in order to play and enjoy casino games to kill the boredom of staying indoors for months.

The Grand View Research forecasted that the worldwide online gambling market may reach up to $127.3 billion by 2027. They cited the increased usage of smartphones and easier access to casino gaming platforms as the driving forces for the online gambling market to reach its peak.

Meanwhile, a report from the American Gaming Association (AGA) showed that as of 2018, about 2,800 sites were active online, offering casino games like poker, bingo, and lottery.

Land-based casinos had been around, perhaps, since the 17th century. Although gambling has been there since time immemorial, the earliest casino traced back in recorded history was first established in Italy in 1638. Since then, the establishment of gaming complexes was seen around the world and the number still continues to grow today.

There's no question how popular the casino industry is, but that popularity was actually tried for several instances. Issues like gambling's perceived negative impact among players, the questions of its morality, and the constant shift and changes on gamblings laws definitely challenged the growth of its market.

As mentioned earlier, topping the above-mentioned challenges faced by the land-based casino industry are the advent of the internet and the onset of the coronavirus pandemic that totally shut down the operations of live casino gaming. These circumstances may leave you wondering if land-based casinos are still relevant amid the continuous growth of online casinos.

While the lockdown restrictions are slowly relaxing, the land-based casino industry is again gaining momentum. That just proves that land-based casinos are still relevant and that many people would still prefer playing live than online - and there are several reasons for that.

For one, many people are still hesitant to play online for safety and privacy reasons. Online transactions tend to be prone to scams, phishing, identity theft, etc. Many fraudulent casino websites also operate that don't actually pay up the winning prices of their players. Given such circumstances, many players still find their way back to casino complexes.

They may come hand in hand but land-based casinos aren't overcome by online casinos yet. They are both thriving industries and there's no reason for the live casinos to crumble. Both industries have pros and cons that make them unique in their own ways.

Despite all the mud and rocks thrown at the facade of casinos and the constant turbulence it experienced upon its growth, it remained resilient and proved that it can still grow amidst criticisms and skepticism - even amidst the conception of online casinos and the onslaught of a pandemic.