Humans have been gambling for thousands of years. The earliest evidence of gambling can be traced back to ancient China – tiles from 2300BC have been unearthed that were used in a rudimentary game of chance. The Greek poet Sophocles wrote about dice in about 500BC. In the mid-1790s, Harry Ogden became the first person ever to make money as a bookmaker. He operated in Newmarket Heath in the UK and made the decision to lay odds on each horse at the race, rather than just going by the existing system of either betting that the best horse would win or that it wouldn’t
It’s clear that games of chance and gambling have been enjoyed by humans for a while. Recently, one of the biggest agents of change in the gambling industry has been the internet. In what ways has the internet changed the gambling industry?
Online gambling and betting
The gambling industry has evolved quickly to take advantage of the internet and the new possibilities that it brings. There are now several betting and gambling websites that will gladly take your money (which it can via your debit or credit card). Behind the scenes, computers will work out the odds of any bet in an instant, allowing you to make bets as soon as you want. Security has naturally become very tight since these sites will have the bank details of hundreds of thousands of people. Cybersecurity is another important aspect of gambling in the age of the internet.
Increasing your odds online
There are ways to increase the odds of winning the lottery through the internet. You can use it to buy multiple tickets to increase your odds of winning the lottery. You can also find lottery pools to join. A lottery pool is a group of people who each buy lottery tickets and then agree that they’ll split the money if any of them get a winning ticket. In 2012, a Massachusetts hospital worker won a $758.7m Powerball jackpot. Now, imagine that you are in a lottery pool with six other people. If you split $758.7m seven ways, then you would each get $108.4m – certainly not anything to sniff at. Remember that when joining a lottery pool, make sure that you each sign a contract that holds you to the agreement that you will share the prize money with the others should any of you win.
Picking your numbers
Lottery numbers are often sacred to every person. You can also pick your numbers using online resources. Randomly generated number pickers can help you if you’re struggling to think of any numbers for yourself. Additionally, randomly generated numbers can actually lead to you winning a larger amount of money if you do win. Lots of people pick numbers based on birthdays or other dates, so if you randomly generate your numbers, then you can hopefully end up with a selection that does not include any combinations that could be dates. The fewer other people who have your numbers means the fewer people you will have to share the pot with if you win.
Real-time updates of odds
Online betting sites also offer real-time updates to the odds on a boxing match, football game or whatever else you are betting on. This is a far cry from the panicked shouts of bookmakers in betting shops and gives even more power to you to change your bet or make a new one.
Smartphone apps
Downloadable apps have had an enormous impact on how people gamble. Now, you can gamble anywhere in the world. You don’t need to go into a betting shop to make your bet on the football game or boxing match. All you need to do is whip out your smartphone and go on your favorite betting app and you can do it instantly. As well as making bets on sports, you can also go on online casinos and gamble, all without getting any cash out. Winnings will go straight into your bank account.
Conclusion
The internet has definitely had an enormous impact on the way that the betting and gambling industry works. You can now make bets on your phone, buy lottery tickets online and use the internet to help decide your lottery numbers, and the money will go straight into your bank account if you win. What has not changed over the years is the thrill of making a bet and the satisfaction that comes from winning.
