The global COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of people out of their offices and back into their homes, which is why online gambling is currently enjoying a surge of players who feel like they don’t have anything better to do during the lockdown.
With bars and restaurants closed in most European cities, there is very little entertainment left out there. And let’s not forget about sports betting. In late spring, early summer of 2020, there was little else than the Belarusian national football league and table tennis to bet on.
Punters have been migrating en masse from sportsbooks to casinos and online slots. Gambling companies are overall doing a lot better than before the coronavirus grabbed planet Earth’s population by the neck.

New to gambling in online casinos?

There’s no such thing as being late to the table in an online casino, so to speak, unless you’re interested in playing live dealer casino games, then there might be a limit to the number of seats at the table.
Over the years, the social stigma of online gambling is all but gone and it’s way more acceptable these days. Players are flocking to forums to discus tactics and strategies in all kinds of games and how to successfully beat wagering requirements attached to bonuses.
In other words, gambling online today makes you an instant member of a community of millions of players from all over the world, literally.

What you can expect as a new player

First off, you need to register with an online casino to open an account. You will have to verify your identity before you can make withdrawals, but that’s a standard in the industry and it’s there to protect both you and the casino, and once you have everything in order you can expect countless hours of entertainment.
The first thing you can expect is the welcome bonus. This is usually a match bonus where the casino will match a percentage of your first deposit, usually 100%, up to a certain amount, and probably around 100 free spins on a specific slot to get you started.
If you agree to receive emails from the casino, then you’re in for a world of offers. It could be anything from free spins to deposit bonuses or cashback during a specific time period.

Nothing will slow down online gambling

With most of the world in lockdown, more and more are discovering online gambling. North America only opened up for online casinos in 2019 in certain states in the US and territories in Canada. Just like any “new” industry, investors tried to project how online gambling would grow considering that online casinos are competing with gambling in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Ontario, and Toronto.
So far online gambling have superseded all expectations and are already ahead of numbers projected for a three-year period, meaning that in late 2020 online casinos are already at levels they weren’t supposed to reach until 2023.