Chapter 1 - Time & Pressure

What is the iGaming Industry?

iGaming is online gambling. It's short for "interactive Gaming" or "internet Gaming". It is called iGaming primarily due to the affiliate industry's need to create short keywords that cover a larger meaning. iGaming as a word evolved from "online gambling" to "internet gambling" to "internet gaming" to "net gaming" and finally iGaming.

Who started the iGaming Industry?

Arguably, there are 3 people who started the iGaming industry: Sir James B. Carlisle, Mario Frick and Martin Moshal.

Sir James B. Carlisle, Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda in 1994, signed the Free Trade and Processing Zone Act.

His signature had the weight of destiny behind it, for it would forever change both online gambling and the lives of millions around the world. It received approval on November 10th 1994.

The Act allowed companies to apply for licenses and operate online gambling platforms legally from Antigua and Barbuda, providing the first regulatory framework for internet casinos.

James Carlisle signed the Free Trade Processing Act. He was ahead of his time.

The very first online gambling activity, however, came nearly a year later on October 7th 1995. It was the sale of the Liechtenstein International Lottery and despite my best efforts to see how much was actually placed on the wager, transaction was not recorded. Rumor is the Prime Minister at the time did it. His name was Mario Frick.

If you will look into the matter of who came first, it is clear that there is a "battle of the ages" as to who it really was. Was it the regulation? Was it Liechtenstein? Or was it Microgaming?

But records show that the license and Microgaming had first mover advantage. The first bet came with Liechtenstein and online casinos became more widespread from '96 onwards.

Microgaming & CryptoLogic

Microgaming was formed by Martin Moshal in 1994 and CryptoLogic was established to handle secure online transactions. Remember when I was saying crypto was in the destiny of this industry since the beginning? Yes. It was always here.

Martin Moshal, Founder of Microgaming

No doubt, CryptoLogic was created to encrypt transactions online, but if you play close attention you will see how certain keywords reoccur in iGaming, primarily because it relies so much on affiliates, ease of language, SEO. You see it in websites, brand names, everywhere. 

1xBet, 0xbet

>Crypto< currency

AstroPay, AstroP(L)ay

>Company Name< Gaming

You understand.

Which was the first online casino?

The first online casino to launch was InterCasino, founded in 1996 by William ‘Billy’ Scott after obtaining a license from Antigua and Barbuda. InterCasino still works today, attracting primarily a Japanese audience. It is owned by Breckenridge Curaçao B.V.

While there is no definitive public record listing the next casinos licensed under the 1994 Free Trade & Processing Act, but some of the earliest entrants following InterCasino included Casino-on-Net (later 888), Microgaming powered casinos like The Gaming Club, and others that emerged in the late 1990s using licenses from Antigua and Barbuda.

Post 1996

After 1996, the industry started moving fast, as it does today, with some of the biggest milestones being:

1996: InterCasino launches as the first real-money online casino, creating the commercial birth of iGaming.

1997–1998: Casino-on-Net (888) and The Gaming Club enter the market, followed by dozens of imitators across various jurisdictions.

1999: Online gambling becomes a booming sector, with over 700 gambling sites in operation worldwide.

2000: Industry exceeds $1 billion in annual revenue. Regulators and governments begin to take notice and initiate the first global legal challenges and regulatory discussions.

Top casinos between 1996 - 2000:

I tried looking for the top 50 casinos between the 90s and 2000 and there is no definitive ranked list due to limited public data. But here are some of the most wildly popular casinos or casino brands that dominated the early days:

InterCasino, The Gaming Club, Golden Palace Casino, Casino-on-Net (888.com), Starluck Casino (now PartyCasino), Ladbrokes, William Hill, Bet365, Betfair, Spin Palace.

These ALL exist today, having endured the test of time.

Top Microgaming brands:

River Belle Casino, Jackpot City, Ruby Fortune, Royal Vegas, Vegas Palms, All Slots Casino, Gaming Club, Lucky Nugget, 7 Sultans, Zodiac Casino.

They all still exist as well.

CryptoLogic and Boss Media Casinos:

Casino Tropez(gone), Omni Casino(still alive), Casino Classic(still alive) , Sun Palace(still alive), VIP Casino(still alive), Casino Fortune(today seems to lead into Fortune Games), Intertops Casino(still alive), Club Dice Casino (still alive), Caribbean Gold(still alive), Casino On Net (888).

Most of the OGs are still online.

Defunct or rebranded brands:

Most other brand names from the 1990s–2000 period either no longer exist, have been absorbed into newer corporate entities or operate under different names.

We explore the in-depth activities of the first 6 years in iGaming in Chapter 2 - Golden Times.