Online casinos came into existence following the occurrence of 3 things:
The first is the introduction of software that powered games.
The late 80s began to see the trend of software powering casino games. More and more games were being powered by software. For instance in slots, we began seeing more software replace the traditional old gaming machines. These early computers then displayed the specs of the computers running the software, so you'd know what to expect in terms of graphics speed of processing. In the area of blackjacks, we began seeing strategy software also making an entry into the casino scene at this time even though they had already been in existence for about 10years earlier following their invention by card counters. So the presence of gaming software was the first step taken towards the march to online casinos coming into existence.
What was then needed was a means by which different computer machines could connect to a server that had these games stored on it which these computers could then access.
In came the internet. The late 90s saw the widespread adoption of the internet owing to its near omnipresent status. The humble beginnings of the internet was as a mode of communication. Users logged on it could simply send messages to each other through it. However, the hidden potentials of the internet was obvious even back then. This was the second thing to happen in making online casinos a reality.
The third thing that came about in making casinos become an online reality, was the need for a police or regulator.
This became a reality in 1993 with the establishment of the first online gambling regulatory agencies. This came to be with the passing of the free trade and zonal processing ac by the state of Antigua and Barbuda. The act provided for the establishment of the directorate of offshore and onshore gambling. This regulatory agency is empowered to receive applications for licenses and issue or deny licenses after studying these applications. The decision to grant or reject a license application depends on whether the applicant meets with the laid out criteria set forth by the agency. This directorate till this day remains one of the most important and highly regarded among all regulatory agencies worldwide. The establishment of this act and the regulatory agencies saw the creation of many similar agencies all over the world giving the needed boost that saw the creation of the first set of online casinos.
So there we have it, these 3 things came together to see online casinos born. The final touch needed was the coupling together of these 3 steps. In comes mega gaming, a software maker based in the Cayman Islands. It was founded a year after the first online gambling regulator was born. It became the first in this area. They became the first to take the initiative and developed gaming software for online play.