Crypto is revolutionizing the way people do things in terms of moving money, splitting bills, sending payments, and more. Blockchain, the technology behind crypto, is doing even more in terms of changing things like contracts, and providing people with new concepts such as NFTs to connect with brands and artists they like.
Casino games have been on quite the journey from being played in the physical casinos of Italy and the rest of Europe, and making their way to the US in the 1800s and 1900s. Digitalization of these games was inevitable once the World Wide Web was mainstream. Games went from being played on tables and at physical slot machines to being played on computers and gaming interfaces.
Baccarat
Baccarat is first on our list partially because it is one of the oldest games still played today, especially if you ask historians about the origins of the game. Felix Falguiere is said to be the inventor of the game, who called the game baccara (meaning zero) based on the fact that both the tens and face cards in the game are worth zero rather than being the higher scorers.
Online baccarat has become the norm in the modern age, and in the late 90s and early 2000s games like this went through a huge transformation when the first online interfaces were made. Cryptocurrency then revolutionized things again, changing the currency that a lot of people use to play baccarat, and stake within the game, more people play baccarat with BTC than ever before.
The mechanics of baccarat and the way the cards are “valued” are a little different from the other games on the market, so it provides some variation for players and a different way to play compared to some of the other games on the market.
Poker
Poker has been quite on the journey, having been played for over 100 years in the US and becoming one of the best-known table games. Poker is even broadcast all over the world, and there are a lot of people who tune in to watch the top tournaments. Poker is massive online, and studies suggest that there are as many as 60 million people globally who play the game in some way.
Many poker tournaments have now switched to cryptocurrency, especially online. The Poker Boom in the early 2000s saw the industry grow, and it was not too long after that when we saw the crypto revolution, with some specific crypto poker sites cropping up and starting to change the way people play.
Crypto’s decentralized mechanics mean that the money is transferred more quickly in most instances with no middleman such as a bank needed in the process. Blockchain technology builds its network in a P2P way so that there is no central bank or organization approving things. Some cryptocurrencies are tied to other assets like currencies and commodities, too. Poker players tend to find that it is a lot quicker as well as anonymous and secure, and these benefits have led to loads of Bitcoin and crypto poker tournaments taking place. A massive industry means that there are so many options for players whatever currency they want to use.
Slots
Slots come in pretty much any theme you can imagine now, and have been revolutionized by the shift to online play and cryptocurrencies. Zombie slots, nature slots, and of course the fruit machine-based slots that are based on the original slot machines and one-armed bandit-style games that require a physical machine.
Crypto slots have changed everything, along with other digital slot options, they aren’t required to run on a physical machine, so they just rely on software. That is why there are thought to be over 10,000 different slots on the market. Video slots have taken over, and they work in a very similar way to the kind of games you may play on a console, so they can simply be downloaded.
Machines with physical reels were limited in the gameplay options, but digital versions opened up different mechanics and graphics.
Roulette
Roulette is another casino staple, played for centuries, and now converted for other currencies so that it can be played on mobile devices or on a laptop or PC. Roulette’s simple nature means that the interfaces can also be simple, but this is also a popular choice for those who are looking for live dealer games, connecting players with live casino employees over a video link and letting them choose their desired bets before spinning.
Bitcoin and crypto have truly played a massive part in recent developments in the whole of the gambling industry, meaning the two industries are now intrinsically tied in some ways, and that cryptocurrencies are providing a key way for people to quickly deposit and withdraw from casino accounts, as well as giving more anonymity.