The history of the online casino industry is short but breath-taking. Since the mid-1990's the online casino industry has experienced growth rates that very few (if any) industries can match. Today hundreds of thousands of players from all parts of the world and all parts of society play at online casinos. Online casinos allow players to play in the comfort of your own home instead of having to travel to a casino. There is no dress code and you can play whenever you want. This appeals to a lot of people who will never set their feet in a normal casino as well as regular casino guests who experience the same thrill and excitement online as when they play at land based casinos.

As the Internet has become faster, cheaper and accessible to more and more people, the number of online gamblers has rocketed. Humans have always gambled for fun, excitement and to win. Before it was likely to be at private gatherings or at brick and mortar casinos. Now that technology has made it possible they gamble at online casinos who have increased dramatically in number throughout the last ten years in what only can be described as a boom.

Some numbers can illustrate why I use the word boom to describe the development in the online casino industry. In 1998 the online gambling industry as a whole generated a turnover of just below $1 billion. By 2001 the number had increased to over $3 billion, in 2003 $6 billion and the 2006 amount was estimated be around $12 billion ($12.000.000.000). These numbers include all online gambling alternatives such as online casino gambling, poker, sports betting, bingo, horse racing etc. But nothing indicates that the growth pattern at online casinos has been different compared to online gambling as a whole.

As for the future development of the online casino industry, forecasts agree that the growth will continue in most parts of the world. There are different opinions about how large the growth rates will be and about which countries that are likely to be the frontrunners in this development, but there is consensus that the online casino industry has yet to reach its peak. The amount of online casino gamblers is expected to increase further in the Western World where online casino gambling already has become a mainstream activity. On top of that the continued expansion of the internet and rises in incomes in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, China and India also possess a large and yet to be explored growth potential for the industry.

One large question mark however is the United States of America where the current government is against online gambling and has passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in late 2006 to stop Americans from gambling online. The UIGEA does not explicitly make it illegal for Americans to gamble online, but it makes it illegal for financial institutions operating in America to process money transfers from and to gambling sites. Out of fear of prosecution most online gambling sites have stopped accepting deposits from US citizens and most e-wallets have stopped processing transactions for American customers as well.

With around half of the worldwide online gambling revenue currently coming from the USA, the UIGEA is surely a setback for the industry, but it remains to be seen how the legislation will affect the online casino industry in the long term. There is no reason to assume that the appetite for gambling is getting smaller in the US, but it has become increasingly difficult for Americans to deposit and withdraw from online gambling sites. Hopefully players from the “Land of the Free” will soon again be able to gamble online without being harassed by their own government.