RealCasino.io is bridging the gap between online gambling and land-based casinos, driving the mainstream adoption of crypto-casinos and use of its native token CHIP.
From 2009 to 2017 the online gambling market has more than doubled in size to a value of nearly $50 billion. A majority of the market share is held by casino games and sports betting.
Although the industry growth trend at the moment clearly skews towards the online component, legacy land-based casinos continue to dominate the industry as a whole. There are more than 6,000 land-based casinos worldwide contributing in 2016 to a gross gaming yield (turnover minus the amount paid out as winnings to customers) of more than $100 billion. That people still love visiting land-based casinos is clear.
A detailed explanation of how the ability to finally bring true transparency to gambling is enabled by the advent of blockchain transparency is found here. Built at first on the Ethereum public blockchain, RealCasino’s gambling platform is well positioned to disrupt the current centralized model of online gambling. The factors that contribute to this positioning are explained in detail in this article.
A key feature that sets RealCasino apart from the competition is the fact that it will act as a bridge between online and land-based casino gambling. This bridge will serve two functions synergistically:
- Speed the adoption of blockchain based gambling, both online and land-based.
- Drive the value of CHIP (RealCasino’s native ERC-20 token).
How It Works
RealCasino’s CHIP can be stored and transacted using any Ethereum wallet. As such transfer of value in and out of RealCasino’s platform is fast, secure, low-cost, and borderless. Features like provably fair random number generation and state channels that have the ability to scale high-speed transactions at very low costs have in the last year become standard for new entrants to the crypto-casino space. RealCasino is no exception; it includes these essential features.
RealCasino, in addition to the above features is actively building partnerships with land-based casinos to allow CHIP to be exchanged for physical casino chips and vice-versa. This partnership also extends to the employment of RealCasino’s blockchain platform to improve the transparency of operations within those land-based casinos.
Partnership in Practice
An online player holding a balance of RealCasino CHIP may decide to go on holiday to a casino resort destination. In a land-based casino that partners with RealCasino, the player will be incentivized to enter by being given VIP treatment. The player will use his CHIP in some or all games in the casino. For the land-based casino, this is an attractive proposition because it brings in customers. Meanwhile the value of CHIP is increased synergistically by giving it greater utility in the real world.
This concept works inversely as well. A player gambles roulette in a land-based casino that is partnered with RealCasino and then, using CHIP purchased or accumulated through winnings in that casino, continues to play online on a mobile device outside the casino. For this to be possible, the local casino merely installs a ‘LiveNode’ that will allow them to stream the table to the player for continued play.
For the land-based casino this is an attractive proposition because running a RealCasino ‘LiveNode’ is a revenue stream; the land-based casino operates in effect an online “branch” through the RealCasino platform that offers modular functionality. The value of CHIP in this scenario is again increased due to the added utility of the token.
Cooperation for the Benefit of Both
A land-based casino that partners with RealCasino is incentivized by the benefits brought by blockchain technology to integrate RealCasino’s blockchain platform into their on-site games. In a casino that has implemented RealCasino’s platform to their backend, players would interact in the real-world environment of the land-based casino but the bets they make using their mobile device would be broadcast to the public blockchain.
For the land-based casino this is beneficial because it becomes empowered with the benefits enabled by blockchain technology such as the creation of provably fair randomly generated events.
Players in the land-based casino meanwhile would gain the same certainty about the integrity of the game that they have when gambling in RealCasino’s online platform but they would additionally be able to enjoy the added entertainment value of the real-world casino environment.
Such a scenario is simultaneously advantageous for the RealCasino platform in general because by adding nodes the network gains increased security. It is likely advantageous for CHIP holders because the value of the token is increased by added security of the network.
The Transition Period
The benefits of blockchain technology for land-based casinos are obvious so they are expected to ultimately evolve into crypto-based resorts. However, as a transition this is likely to take approximately 10 years. During this period RealCasino is well positioned to facilitate the connection between the old world and the new.
The dynamic between RealCasino and land-based casinos, means that adopting the technology will increase the rate of player attraction from both the crypto world and conventional casinos. This is one of the strategies employed by RealCasino was will allow us to grow the player base rapidly as land-based casinos transition towards the virtual gaming world.
Token Sale Underway
RealCasino launched a token sale on February 23rd to kick-start its network and to fund continued development of the platform. A maximum of 4.8B CHIP will be distributed.
David Wainwright is founder and CEO of RealCasino, a provider of live-entertainment online casino games since 2010 (brands include Supercasino, Netplaytv, Gaming, and Premiere).