Onto A Winner No more than six or seven years ago online gaming was an industry that promised big things but hadn’t really taken off. The spread of super-fast internet then transformed the way that people use the internet and provided the technological platform for an online gaming revolution.

Perfectly positioned to make the most of the new download speeds were online casinos such as 32Red (visit the recently revamped casino for an example). Needing only a limited amount of bandwidth initially, the new technology gave the potential for high quality graphics and a more immersive experience.

Casinos grew rapidly, and the market place became increasingly competitive. Other companies with less good intentions saw the opportunity to make money and the industry swiftly assembled a regulatory body to ensure that innocent punters and gamers could play without fear of being swindled.

Despite high profile cases of fraud and table rigging, the industry survived and continued to grow. Casinos added new games to their rostrum, including card games like poker, which exploded in popularity. The Bond film, Casino Royale, only helped fuel the craze for the card game.

Then, of course, the recession hit, and some experts predicted that online gaming would take a hit as people suddenly became much more careful with their money. Certain companies, as with any sector, struggled, but others continued to thrive, making the most of people looking for entertainment inside their own homes where they didn’t have to pay for taxis or restaurants or other things to do on a night out.

With most of the world now recovered from recession – although by no means out of the woods – the outlook for the online gaming industry looks good. The industry is showing its financial strength by signing high profile advertising deals with football clubs and other sporting competitions and, in the process, attracting a new demographic to their sites. There are, of course, still many challenges for the industry to face, not least that posed by the damage that unregulated websites are doing. Nonetheless, online gaming has conquered every obstacle that has been put in its path so far, and as television and the internet and other forms of entertainment are inexorably drawn closer together with new technology, online gaming looks in the best position to capitalise.