While originally coming to fruition in 1994, online casino gaming has made huge leaps forward in the last decade. Casinos, though, go back to a time where accurate records are still difficult to corroborate. The universal belief of experts and historians is that the first casino emerged 377 years ago in Italy – Venice to be precise.

Casinos now are different beasts – with a wide array of games and different places to play. The notable shift in mobile gaming has resulted in the growth of the online casino industry, particularly over the past decade, honing in on the advancements of smartphones, tablets, and mobile app software developments. All of which have contributed to the growth over the past decade.

The rise of the sweepstakes casino

Sweepstakes casinos use an intriguing mechanism that helps to differentiate them from traditional online casino designs. They don’t use money. They use in-game tokens and currencies, minimizing the risk in comparison to real money casinos. Regulation has meant sweepstakes have become the unexpected beneficiary over the last decade.

A sweepstakes casino offers free-to-play, casino-style games, and by focusing on the gaming mechanics rather than monetary gain, they appeal to an entirely new audience. Ten years ago, these casinos were a minute part of the casino gaming world – in 2025 – they’re one of the fastest-growing. What a difference a decade makes.

The rise of sweepstakes casinos

Sweepstakes have become a major part of the industry because they have circumvented traditional regulations. In states like California and Texas, where conventional gambling is illegal, sweepstakes provide tens of millions of people with the opportunity to experience casino gaming. As they remove the potential for monetary loss, they fall outside the regulatory remit.

Even casino gamers in states or provinces where online casino games are regulated are also checking out sweepstakes, as they provide a similar experience of playing a casino game and removing the inherent risk that comes from financial loss at a traditional platform.

A decade ago, sweepstakes weren’t highly sought after—today, they are a viable sector of the casino world, with some of the top providers churning out major profits.

There are hundreds of free games to play at sweepstakes casinos, sometimes called “social casinos”. Within them, there are virtual currencies. Gold Coins at sweepstakes casinos have no monetary value – they can’t be exchanged for money.

Here’s the key things to remember:

  • Sweepstakes use gold coins, including sweeps, to lessen the financial impact of their games.
  • They fall outside regulations because each bet doesn’t involve the potential to lose or win money.
  • They’ve grown in states where gambling is outlawed – such as Utah, Texas and Hawaii.

The rise of expert review sites

Irrespective of whether somebody plays at a traditional or sweepstakes casino, the industry’s growth to become a multi-billion dollar one has resulted in market saturation. Review sites employ experts to dissect the criteria that they believe detail the quality of a casino.

Because a search engine query will yield hundreds and thousands of results, you can get a little help choosing one from a review site like WSN, which rates sweepstakes casino platforms.

WSN provides in-depth insights into sweepstakes casinos, including customer support, payout speeds, game variety, and tune bonuses. The growth of expert review sites has led online casinos, especially new ones, to pay closer attention to the variables that could make or break their platform.

A growing emphasis on security

Unfortunately, as the online casino industry has become the dominant force in how people play casino games, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Due to the staggering levels of transactions that online casinos handle, they have become targets for cybercriminals and shady operators online.

By incorporating 256-bit SSL encryption, a firewall, and allowing customers to use 2FA to log in—all of which have become increasingly prevalent over the last decade—the industry has strengthened its grip by growing consumer trust and ensuring their data remains secure.

Many sites allow users to sign up through a Facebook account, which can be directly linked, or through a Google account, making the login quicker and implementing the account’s 2FA or password key already set up. Rather than a conventional password, which we would see a lot of ten years ago – 2FA, biometric security and other forms of login are now the primary forms of security used – and one of the clearest examples that the industry has grown. Here are the key takeaways:

  • Casinos have implemented 256-bit SSL encryption – the same level as international banks.
  • 2FA and biometric ID use has increased significantly since 2015.
  • Password keys and suggested passwords are now part of the industry – and help enhance the protection of consumer data.

Mobile app implementation

In 2015, millions of people used apps and phones to play casino games. The generational shift to mobile app gaming became apparent in casino gaming in the mid-2010s, boosted by the remarkable success of mobile app games such as League of Legends.

With such a massive shift in consumer appetite, colossal brands in online casino gaming, such as Microgaming and Pragmatic Play, two of the world’s biggest slot software companies, veered their design focus on mobile apps. Evolution Gaming, the world’s biggest live casino software provider, also moved its focus to smartphone and tablet displays to manage this notable change. Here are the key bits of info to remember with regards to this point:

  • League Of Legends, as of 2025, has generated over 175 million downloads.
  • Mobile apps include tablets and smartphones and now dominate slot game design. Ten years ago, this was not the main priority for the industry – now it is.

May 2018 Ruling

No one event has had such a profound impact on the online gambling industry as the US Supreme Court’s May 2018 ruling. The ruling, in short, stated that states could legalize betting on sports. This opened the doors for a ruling on online casino gaming, and over the next few years, state by state moved into the business of legalizing sports betting and online casino gaming.

As of 2025, there are fewer than a dozen states where patrons cannot place online casino bets. Over the last decade, over half of US states legalizing online casino gaming have introduced an influx of tens of billions of dollars’ worth of capital into the global industry, resulting in annual growth and proving robust against economic shocks and turbulence in the broader global economy.

By showcasing such resilience, the online casino industry became an investment for prominent pension funds in large global economies. For example, in Australia, some of the top pension funds, such as HostPlus, rotated their investments into online casino companies in the early 2020s, allowing the online casino industry to enhance its legitimacy and move toward blue-chip status.

Bonuses adapting to consumer trends

Online casinos have long offered promotions and offers to attract new customers and keep current customers using their services. As discussed in the mobile app implementation section, the volume of customers now using their smartphones and tablets to place bets meant that online casinos must pay closer attention to incentivize this part of their package.

With global companies vying for consumer attention, the most notable change over the past decade has been the promotions catering to mobile app users or slot gamers. Slot games and free spins have always been used as tools to onboard new customers, but with more of the top slot designers shifting towards a mobile-centric approach, bonuses and promotions have also followed suit.

Summary

In summary, here are the biggest ways that the online casino industry has grown since 2015:

  • The number of online casinos has grown 5.2% per year between 2019 and 2024.
  • The online casino industry has grown from $37.5 billion in 2015 to over $81 billion.
  • Mobile apps are the dominant way people play – with over 50% of online casino gamers using their smartphone and mobile apps.
  • Password keys, biometric ID and 2FA use has surged over the last decade and now make up the frontline of security in online casino gaming.