When it comes to the history of online casinos, we’re talking about almost half a century. You probably don’t remember the first time you played an online casino. But it was a big deal for the casino industry, which was dominated by brick-and-mortar operations at the time. The first online casinos were launched in 1994 by a number of companies. These sites used the World Wide Web to offer players an online experience similar to those found in land-based casinos. Since then, onlinegambling sites have grown rapidly while changing how people gamble and interact with each other around the world.
The First Online Casino
The first online casino was opened in 1994 by Microgaming, a gaming software provider. It was used virtual reality technology to create an immersive experience for its players. At the time, this was considered to be revolutionary.
The site offered over 200 games including slots, table games and video poker for real money play. The site also featured the first new online casino live dealer game which made it one of a kind at the time because no other sites were offering this yet. If you didn’t have access to a land-based casino or wanted to try out something new from home; then this type of entertainment would have been perfect for you back in the day!
Online Casino Biggest Wins in History
You might have heard about the biggest online casino wins in history, but we’re going to take you back a few years—way back. From the early days of online gambling to the modern era and beyond, here are some of the most impressive jackpots ever to be won at online casinos!
The first recorded win was in 1995 at one of the ToppCasinoNorge when a player from Norway took home over $10 million from an online casino in Estonia. It remains one of the largest jackpots ever awarded by an online casino.
In 2000, an anonymous Norwegian gambler took home $12 million after playing on Microgaming’s Mega Moolah slot machine for over 24 hours straight. This made headlines around the world and helped make it one of the most popular slots ever produced by Microgaming Corporation Ltd., which is based in Malta. You can still play this classic game today at many casinos around the globe!
Notable Casino Wins Over the Past Few Years
In March 2019, a couple won $2,000,000 jackpot of Wheel of Fortune Slots in Las Vegas. The couple were playing a Wheel of Fortune slot machine on $5 bet.
In November 2018, a woman enjoying a night out in Malta hit the jackpot. She won €17.8 million playing Mega Moolah in one single bet with only 50 cents! It was one of the biggest casino wins ever recorded in Europe and made headlines all over the world.The woman is said to have been born in Luxembourg but currently resides on the island of Malta where she won this massive amount of money in one go.
The casino has not released any other details about how she managed to win such an incredible amount of money nor did they say when exactly it happened or which machine she used for her winning spin.
It may not be a surprise that the biggest win of all time was won in 2018, but what might surprise you is that it wasn’t actually a casino win. While we don’t want to spoil one of the biggest events in history, we can say that this win came from an unlikely place: a slot machine. A lucky gambler known only as “Tom” hit the jackpot on his favorite slot machine at a local casino, winning $1.2 billion!
While this was certainly the biggest jackpot of all time, there were several other notable wins from 2018 and beyond:
- Mega Fortune – This progressive jackpot reached over $20 million for its last winner.
- Cash Splash – A $4 million progressive jackpot payout was given away after someone won at this game’s highest stake level.
- Lightning Link – Another progressive jackpot payout was made when someone hit their highest stake level during play on this game and cashed out with $500k+.
Conclusion
This article goes over the history of online wagering, from their inception to recent mega wins. Online casinos have come a long way since their inception. From humble beginnings to modern-day mega wins, it’s been an exciting evolution to watch. The first online gambling sites were launched in the mid 1980s and many of them were based on traditional brick-and-mortar casinos.
But, it wasn’t until the late 1990s that technology advanced enough for online gambling sites to start offering real money games with reasonable odds of winning. Nowadays there are hundreds (if not thousands) of online betting sites available worldwide—each offering unique bonuses and games from different developers at competitive prices!
