Gambling in 2025 By Steve Donoughue www.gamblingconsultant.co.uk
Origins Gambling games using tokens, boards & dice go back to pre-history Organised betting on racing and other sporting events found in Greek and Roman history First lottery/bingo - Lo Giuoco del Lotto in Firenze, Italy 1530 First casino - Ridotto in Venice, Italy 1638 First fixed odds bookmaker (against the field) Harry Ogden in UK 1790 Roulette first seen in Paris, France - 1796 First pari-mutuel Joseph Oller, France 1867 First slot machine Charles Fey, San Francisco, USA 1895 First automatic totalisator Auckland racecourse, New Zealand 1913 The first online gambling transaction is thought to be the sale of lottery tickets from the International Lottery in Liechtenstein, for a manual drawing that occurred on October 7, 1995 Intertops.com (sometimes referred to as InterCasino), based and licensed in Antigua, became, so it claims, the first online casino to accept a wager in 1996
Levers #1 - Technology Coinage to exchange value Industry to give people surplus wealth to gamble Printing press to bring cards to masses Mathematics of probability developed in Italy to help gambling Clockwork to make slot machines Newspapers to advertise horse races & lottery ticket sales Trains to take people to the races Telephone/telegraph to disseminate results and bets Television to show betting events Server based gaming Internet gambling Live dealers??
Levers #2 -Regulation & Legislation Prohibition Gambling a sin as against predestination Gambling a sin as against Calvinistic work ethic Gambling is the excess of the rich Gambling causes the poor to steal then later, problem gamble Legislation Gambling provides taxes Gambling creates tourism Prevention of illegal gambling if prohibition Protection of the consumer Focus on AML & Problem Gambling
Future Tech 5G 10Gig per second download everywhere Internet of things connected sensors in everything Big data analysis of human behaviour Machine learning search and prediction Blockchain trusted transactions Crypto-currencies frictionless transfers Virtual/Augmented reality enhanced entertainment Automation brings the cost of things down
The future of gambling the same but better? Totally immersive entertainment gambling experience in living room Ultra HD massive TV screen or VR Voice controlled or VR controller Interact with host and friends in real or virtual gambling space, real or virtual host and/or friends AI providing better bets especially in play Better outdoor mobile experience Holographs Projectors AR glasses showing betting opportunities Land based venues have to compete with the home experience People need to meet other people in the flesh but staff maybe robots/virtual Focus on socialising during game play and in-between VR arcades But will be those who play to zone out or to beat the game they are the risk Technology used for enhancing customer protection Gambling coin payments monitors & verifies spend Cameras & sensors monitor for distress Algorithms to predict descent Personalised gambling limits
The future of gambling something new? Millennials are born between 1982-2004 will be 21-43 years old in 2025. Critically those born in 1982 were 19 in 2001 when the internet went broadband - Millennials very tech savvy In UK 2017 33% of adults have gambled (excl Lotto) and those participating in gambling are more likely to be aged between 35 and 64. In USA 2017 Entertainment Software Association state 67% of American households own a device used to play video games. The average gamer is 35 years old Grand Theft Auto V broke six world records including the Highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours and the Fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion Are millennials more likely to go for video game type entertainment for their excitement than for RNG games centuries old? Those before the Millennials had games that basically not very different for a few centuries
Gambling as competition Millennials bored of games of chance as used to skill in video games Mix of video game and gambling is skill competition Not e-sports as that is betting on teams, this is betting on yourself 1,000,000 to the last person standing in FPS 1,000,000 to the global winner of FIFA25 or Forza Motorsport 12 Link in with VR for real action games In real sport Internet of Things sensors provide authentication for amateur sport
Hold on a second!!! All advances in gambling technology will be restrained by regulation Advances make gambling easier, better, more accessible => can be seen as increasing problem gambling/ under age/ AML Moral panics will ensue followed by restrictions We need technological advancement on regulation Blockchain gambling coins issued by regulator Facial recognition and body sensors to recognise distress Machine learning to predict problematic gamblers
Conclusion Really this presentation is good for 2021 2025 too far away Where is my hoverboard? Thank you