Emmanuella Oluwafemi is an iGaming expert with 12+ years creating casino, sweepstakes, and sportsbook content. She’s written 3,000+ articles, including guides on gambling laws and gambling ads policies. Aside from being a skilled writer, Emmanuella also...
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Nick is an ex-casino manager turned PR specialist. He began his career as a croupier in the UK, and went on to work in Europe, Russia, Africa, Asia, and the USA. Previously he has worked...
Read Full BioOnline gambling tentatively began in 1994 with a simple but functional gambling software program created in the Isle of Man. Since then, the industry’s growth has been explosive. The intervening years have seen online gambling become a significant source of revenue for many European countries, and have culminated recently with the introduction of crypto casinos.
Key Beats
- iGaming is a term used to describe multiple global gambling industries, like online casinos, gambling tech, and even finance.
- As an industry, it impacts lives around the world (both positively and negatively) to such an extent that you are unlikely not to know it exists.
- The iGaming industry is valued at over $107 billion and is projected to reach up to $153 billion by 2030.
What Is iGaming?
The standard iGaming definition is rooted in the online gambling and betting industry. This includes all forms of digital gaming, including wagering on poker, casino games, or sports. iGaming, explained this way, also covers the financial aspect — bets placed — and the tech aspect — game creation and platforms where they are played.
Evolution of the iGaming Industry
When Antigua and Barbuda passed the Free Trade & Processing Act of 1994, it opened the door to iGaming for the first time. It was the first country ever to issue online gambling licenses.
Microgaming was founded in the same year and developed the first fully operational iGaming software platform, which served as the basis for the first real-money online casino, InterCasino, in 1996.
There were hundreds of online casinos after that in the late 1990s, each attracting players from around the world with classic table games and slots.
By 1998, the industry hit another milestone with the launch of Planet Poker’s online poker rooms. The same period also marked the launch of online sports betting, which, unsurprisingly, became even more popular than computer-based casino gaming.
The history of iGaming wouldn’t be complete without the early 2000s poker boom popularized by televised WSOP tournaments and late-night games. This funneled millions of new players online and expanded the industry’s user base.
Around 2010, phones became smarter, and the mobile revolution ushered in live dealer casinos. With the introduction of HTML5, game providers could create games that ran smoothly on smartphones, and operators could adjust their sites to fit all screen sizes and work in mobile browsers.
Recent years have seen crypto and fintech dramatically changing the way people bet online. Blockchain brings the speed and anonymity that traditional banking methods lacked. Now there’s tighter security and provably fair games that threaten the reliance on RNGs.
The iGaming Industry Today
Now we’re at 2025, and the iGaming market size has surpassed $107.6 billion with projections of $153.57 billion by 2030. Expanding access to regulated markets made this spread easy, but even in developing markets, options like sweepstakes and offshore casinos continue to gain audiences.
When you look at the major players in the iGaming industry, you see a mix of operators and providers behind every game. There are B2B companies like Evolution, providers of the world’s largest live casino network. Then there are the big gambling operators like Bet365 and Flutter Entertainment with global sportsbooks and casinos.
iGaming growth extends beyond the number of players to the available games and betting categories. Sports betting remains the dominant format, accounting for over half of all gambling activities.
Classic casino games such as slots, roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and poker continue to dominate online casino play. But recently, live game shows and even traditional games such as Sic Bo, Pai Gow, and the Indian game of Andar Bahar have established a presence in the industry.
Since the first regulated market was in the Caribbean, you might expect the region to be the most mature in terms of regulation. Unsurprisingly, Europe has taken over, with the UKGC being the most respected regulator, followed by the Malta Gambling Authority.
Africa and South America are major markets and among the fastest-growing. While Asia also has a large iGaming population, regulations are complex, with some countries imposing outright bans and others remaining in legal gray areas.
The United States allowed each state to regulate its approach. That resulted in a mix of states that fully embrace sports and online casinos, those that permit only sports betting, and those that impose a complete ban on sports betting.
What Does iGaming Include?
iGaming is an umbrella term that encompasses many verticals. Here’s a breakdown:
Online casinos
iGaming casinos are digital versions of brick-and-mortar casinos, offering a wide variety of games. You’ve got the classics like slots, ranging from simple three-reel games to complex video slots with daring themes and multiple bonus rounds.
Then there are table games, the online equivalent of what you’d find in Las Vegas, like blackjack, roulette, and baccarat. The most immersive part is live dealer games, which use a live video stream to let you play with a real dealer and other players from around the world.
Sports betting
iGaming sports betting is the most prominent vertical. It lets you place bets on everything from global soccer matches and the NBA to obscure horse races.
You can do pre-match betting, where you place your wager before the game even starts, or get into the real action with in-play betting, where the odds change in real time as the game unfolds. A considerable part of this market is also esports betting, where fans bet on professional video game tournaments.
Poker
Then there’s iGaming poker. Online poker rooms became famous in the early 2000s and are still going strong. They let you play against other people in formats like Texas Hold’em and Omaha. The fun part is the tournaments, where you can compete against a massive number of players for a shot at a big prize pool.
Beyond these, there are other cool verticals. Online bingo halls, where you can play for prizes with people from all over the world, and digital lotteries that let you buy tickets for major international jackpots. There’s also the fast-growing fantasy sports vertical, which enables you to build a virtual team and win cash prizes based on how well your players do in real life.
iGaming Regulations – Is it Legal?
The first thing to know about iGaming regulations is that they are a legal minefield. There’s no single global rulebook; instead, it’s a patchwork of laws that change from country to country.
In the US, for example, the legality of online gambling is decided at a state level. This means a casino or sportsbook might be legal in New Jersey or Pennsylvania but completely banned in Ohio or Washington state.
In Europe, the situation is more centralized but still complex. The UK is a leading example of a tightly regulated market, with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) ensuring high standards for player protection and fair play.
In Malta, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has become a global standard-setter, issuing licenses that allow operators to serve players in many countries worldwide. These licenses aren’t easy to get; they require a ton of paperwork, financial checks, and a commitment to player safety.
Speaking of player safety, this is where responsible gambling technology comes in. Regulators require licensed operators to have tools that let players set deposit limits, take a break with self-exclusion periods, or access help for gambling problems. Without these responsible gambling measures, operators cannot get a license.
Technology & Payments in iGaming
iGaming technology, or how you get money in and out of the casino or sportsbook, is easily the most crucial part to players. Traditional methods like credit cards are still around, but they’re giving way to faster iGaming payment alternatives.
E-wallets like Skrill are super popular, and many platforms are now adding cryptocurrency and open banking, which lets you transfer money directly from your bank account without sharing card details.
Then there’s the big one: blockchain in iGaming. Blockchain technology enables provably fair gaming.
This is where cryptographic hashes are used to verify that a game’s outcome was truly random and wasn’t tampered with. It creates a whole new level of trust between players and the casino because you can verify the results for yourself on a public ledger.
Player Experience & Safety
Games and gambling sites are just one aspect of iGaming; it’s the user interface and gamification of the user experience that attract players. As for retention, secure gambling transactions and data protection are the most essential metrics players look at.
Players are looking for an easy-to-use interface where they understand every process from sign-up to cash-out. They also want to be sure that online casinos are not rigged and that they can get help when they need it. Once accessibility is smooth, casinos that also throw in fun loyalty programs, tournaments, or gamified promotions keep things enjoyable and engaging.
The Future of iGaming
The industry’s history so far already tells us what to expect from the future of iGaming. Mobile gaming has changed how people play games remotely, but wearable devices are set to change it even more.
VR headsets and glasses will likely take live dealer gaming from basic live streams to a more “near physical” experience. Of course, VR casinos will require more work, but the igaming industry has been trialing them since 2015.
Esports betting is another area of growth in the iGaming industry that will likely attract a fan base as large as sports betting. It is already generating substantial revenue and offering some of the biggest tournament payouts in any vertical. Fintech and open banking iGaming trends also solve the issue of transaction speed.
Yet crypto casinos will likely outshine these in terms of transparency and anonymity. There is great potential for global regulation and standardization, but that may be many decades away, as individual countries still struggle over whether to welcome this industry fully.
Conclusion
So, what is iGaming? At its core, it’s the digital evolution of traditional gambling. What started as a simple platform on the Isle of Man in 1994 has exploded into a multi-billion-dollar iGaming industry that influences entertainment, finance, and technology worldwide. We’ve seen it all, from the rise of mobile casinos to the adoption of cryptocurrencies and the introduction of new verticals like esports betting. It will only get bigger.
FAQs
iGaming is a broad industry encompassing casino gaming, sports betting, and other verticals such as eSports betting. That makes eSports betting one of its verticals, even though it has a niche of its own in the larger gaming industry.
Most iGaming companies rely on bonuses and promotions to attract players. However, some brands are opting for options like gamification, exclusive titles, and even VIP schemes.
You can use smartphones, tablets, and computers for iGaming. All you need is an internet connection and the most recent version of your browser.
Social gaming is an iGaming vertical where you have access to the same games and sometimes sports options, but you play them with free coins. The social element here is usually the chat rooms, where you can converse with other players. As for rewards, these sites operate on a sweepstakes model, and only a few of them let you redeem coins for cash prizes.
The UK, Canada, Australia, Macau (China), Brazil, and Malta are among the major markets. There are other markets to watch, such as the entire continent of Africa, as well as India and the Philippines.
References
- Helping you get information about gambling in Great Britain and find support when you need it (Gambling Commission)
- Home (Malta Gaming Authority)
