Online gambling was first introduced by the leading bookmakers

There is no doubt that the internet has changed the way we do a great many of our routine daily activities, and of course has also influenced how many of us spend our leisure time. The pace of change has been remarkable, and that is particularly true for those of us who enjoy gambling. Since the major bookmakers first introduced their online sports gambling websites we have seen those sites expand very rapidly indeed, and we now have a huge range of online gambling options to enjoy. As with many other major high street companies, the decision by our bookmakers to establish an internet presence was probably not as easy as we might think in retrospect, because nobody at the time was quite sure how their customers were going to react to using the internet instead of visiting the high street. We now know of course that most of us were delighted to have the opportunity to do our sports gambling online, and many of our leading bookmakers now report that the revenues from online gambling now exceed those from their high street outlets. The biggest advantage of the online sports gambling sites was of course the range of sports and sporting events which they covered, which meant that sports gambling fans were no longer restricted to horse racing, greyhound racing and football. They had immediate access to quoted odds on a huge variety of sports and sporting events, many of which would have been completely inaccessible in a high street betting shop. The next stage in the development of online gambling was when the bookmakers decided to start introducing the opportunity to play gambling games on their sites, and the concept of online casino gambling was born. From our point of view here at gambling.ie the introduction of gambling games alongside the online sports gambling options meant that there was now a difference between one site and another. From the sports gambling point of view the online gambling sites operated by the major bookmakers were all very similar, so there was very little to choose between one site and another. However when they began to introduce gambling games, particularly slots games we were suddenly presented with more options because the games were not the same on every site. This was when our list of recommended online gambling sites suddenly became more relevant, particularly for people who enjoyed both sports gambling and playing casino gambling games. Clearly the financial management and security of online gambling sites operated by the major bookmakers was never an issue, so until they introduced a range of gambling games there was very little to choose between them. The fact that the range of gambling games available on each site is different is because the bookmakers operating the sites chose different software suppliers, and it is the software companies who design and supply the games, particularly the slots games.

The choice of which online gambling site we use is often simply down to which bookmaker we are most familiar with in terms of brand name, and for many of us in Ireland this would probably mean choosing Paddy Power. Not only do Paddy Power still have a very substantial presence on our high streets, they have also proved very good at promoting their brand with a variety of interesting marketing stunts. The Paddy Power online gambling site is of course well managed, with a huge range of sports gambling options including the GAA sports, and competitive odds. It is also not unusual for Paddy Power to pay out on bets before the event has even finished. As far as the gambling games available on the Paddy Power site are concerned, most of them are supplied by a software company called Wagerworks. This makes Paddy Power a good choice for those looking for a different range of games, because although Wagerworks is not the biggest software company it is well respected and supplies an excellent range of slots games.

From the point of view of brand awareness, we have to assume that most Irish gambling fans would probably also recognise Ladbrokes as one of the major bookmakers, again due to a big high street presence across the country. Again their sports gambling options are very wide covering most of the options anyone is likely to want, and they also have a good range of gambling games on the site. We would expect to see some changes in their range of games over the next few months as their new software partner Playtech starts to have greater influence. Ladbrokes also operate a well-respected poker site and a popular 24 hour online bingo forum for bingo fans.

Of the remaining leading bookmakers who operate online gambling sites, Betfred is the only one to have a high street presence, but Bwin is also known to many football fans due to their shirt sponsorship with both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Both of these bookmakers operate excellent online gambling sites with plenty of sporting options and gambling games. William Hill also has an excellent sports gambling site and a range of gambling games supplied primarily by Playtech.

Since the idea of playing casino gambling games online became popular we have seen a number of new specialist online gambling sites come on stream, concentrating solely on playing a variety of gambling games. None of these are operated by the leading bookmakers, they are independent companies mostly set up in response to the popularity of online casino gambling. These new sites have introduced a number of new ideas, but there main contribution to online gambling has been in the range of new exclusive gambling games they are able to offer. The all Irish casino has a range of games supplied by NetEnt, and also offers casino games fans the opportunity to play roulette, blackjack and baccarat streamed live from a real casino.

Any serious fans of playing slots games must take a look at the huge range of new exciting online casino games offered by these new operators. CasinoLand and Instacasino both feature slots games from a number of different software suppliers, and CasinoCasino is offering exclusive online access to the hugely popular slots games from Amatic industries.