The leading bookmakers were the first to invest in online gambling

As more and more people acquire the means to access the internet wherever they are and whatever they are doing, it inevitably leads to an increase in online activity in just about every sector of the economy. Almost all the major banks are threatening to close high street branches in the coming months because more of us banking online, and from a retailers point of view this Christmas will almost certainly break records once again for online purchases. Both of these situations are surely obvious consequences of the spread of internet access, so here at gambling.ie we are very surprised that some people appear to be so concerned that online gambling also appears to be on the increase. The online gambling industry is not that different from many other internet sectors in that it has inherent advantages over their rivals on the high street, most significantly the range of gambling options they can offer which in turn allows the online gambling site operators to appeal to a wider customer base. There are of course a number of potential problems associated with any gambling, but there is no doubt that the big bookmakers are very aware of those dangers and do all in their power to lessen them. No one can ever condone underage gambling, and we all know that there are a few people for whom gambling has become an addiction rather than an enjoyable leisure experience, but is it fair that the critics always blame the bookmakers. Gambling has been a popular human leisure activity throughout most of our history, and certainly well before bookmakers started to offer us a way to gamble on sporting events. Nowadays of course the original sports gambling sites set up and operated by the big bookmakers have been joined by several online casino gambling sites operated by smaller specialist online gambling companies, but there is no doubt that most online gambling enthusiasts still use the big multi-option sites operated by the leading bookmakers. The first online gambling sites set up by the big bookmakers were aimed solely at their existing sports gambling customers, most of whom were horse racing or football fans who generally placed their bets through one of the high street betting shops. Those first sites did however offer a much bigger range of sports and sporting events than most betting shops were ever able to do, which therefore meant that they appealed to a much broader audience and became more popular as a result. A similar situation came about when those same bookmakers decided to invest further in their online sports gambling sites by introducing a few gambling games. The idea was so successful that all the original online gambling sites owned by the leading bookmakers started to add more and more gambling games to those sites, and the concept of online casino gambling was born. Once again it was the ability of internet gambling sites to offer a huge range of different gambling games which proved the decisive factor in their success. There were traditional casino gambling games such as roulette and blackjack which clearly appealed to those casino games fans who played in one of our real casinos, but there were also a variety of numbers games based on the ever popular game of bingo which again attracted an existing fan base and therefore also contributed to the increasing number of people gambling online. Most observers would however point to the huge number of slots games featured on all of these sites as the real driving force behind the success of the online casino gambling sector. After all very few of us have not enjoyed playing slot machines at some time in our lives and they are generally quick and easy to play with the instant results which seem to appeal to those leading busy lives in the modern world.

When the big bookmakers began to introduce gambling games on their established sports gambling sites, they also became more dependent on their casino software suppliers because almost all the gambling games featured online are designed and supplied by those specialist casino software companies. The importance of these casino software companies to any online casino gambling site is borne out by the increasing dominance of the most successful of those companies. Playtech for instance is still the primary source of most of the casino gambling games offered on the Ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfred online gambling sites. The biggest bookmaker to operate an online gambling site which does not use Playtech software is of course Ireland’s favourite bookmaker, Paddy Power. The Paddy Power online gambling site features gambling games supplied by a smaller software company called Wagerworks, which means that games fans are likely to find far more exclusive gambling games on the Paddy Power site than they will on some other sites operated by the big bookmakers. The ability to offer a range of gambling games which are not available at any other online casino gambling site is of course a very important advantage in what is becoming a fairly crowded gambling sector. It is also why the first sites operated by our well-known bookmakers have now been joined by specialist casino gambling sites such as the All Irish casino. In the early days of online gambling the bookmakers with a big high street presence had a huge advantage when it came to attracting new customers, but specialist online casino gambling sites such as the All Irish casino are gradually establishing a good reputation by concentrating on introducing new exclusive games provided by smaller software companies. Some of these newer online casinos also use more than one casino software supplier to provide their casino games, again improving customer choice. Even some of the big bookmakers now offer online gambling games supplied by more than one software company. The choice of which online gambling site to use therefore depends a great deal on whether you want to combine sports gambling with playing a few gambling games, or whether you prefer to concentrate on the best and most exciting range of gambling games.