The end of the year 2019 saw an unusual event; the rise of a global pandemic. It took the whole world into its grip within a few months, and the face of the planet saw unique scenes where everything was closed, and the people were restricted to their homes. This global spread of pandemic impacted all the businesses, including the live dealer casinos.
A live dealer casino is a casino that is live and present in real-time. It is a new form of online gambling where anyone can join the platform from the comfort of their homes. The primary specialty of live dealer casinos is its involvement of real dealers in gambling and not playing against some computer and artificial partners. Although the system is online, still it has been highly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 and its impact on gambling industry
When the pandemic took a severe form in the starting months of 2020, the majority of the governments of many countries decided to shut down online websites for gambling. It caused a massive dent in the big business of live dealer casinos. All the online platforms of betting were closed, and people became unable to make any transactions. This decision was taken in the aftermath of research showing that coronavirus affects physical health and is also responsible for damaging mental health. Such research led to a general belief that people’s involvement in live dealer casinos can become more dangerous during such a problematic pandemic. As online activities were increased all over the globe, the decision was taken to shut the live dealer casinos down. This was a massive blow to online gambling.
Going further, as the majority of the businesses were affected by the pandemic, this proved to be a huge setback to the financial situation of billions of people. The lives of all such people were greatly affected and even many lost their jobs and found themselves in a situation where they had nothing to earn their bread and butter. Any involvement in live dealer casinos demands money, and during such a financially challenging time, it became impossible for impacted persons to join any gambling games and invest money. This is one of the significant factors which contributed towards a negatively impacted business of online gambling.
Furthermore, another critical factor was the fear which the pandemic of COVID-19 created. In the regular routines, people were using various platforms to join online gambling. The live dealer casino Canada was becoming a part of many people’s lives. After the pandemic hit the world, suddenly, it caused great fear for all the seven billion people living on the planet. The deadly virus did not impact physical health, but it affected the inhabitants of earth on a mental level. This became another reason for people’s less interest in playing online gambling games. The psychological pressure added by the virus made people move away from such activities. This is another primary reason that puts a considerable dent in the business of live dealer casinos.
Moreover, the coronavirus has affected the health of billions of people, and more than four million deaths have been reported so far. The live dealer casino was used to be a business run by the people, and this huge number of affectees in the whole world was itself a very impacting factor for online gambling platforms.
Online Gambling becomes the trend
On the other hand, by looking at the other side of the picture, a trend was also seen in the increased number of participants in online gambling. Although there was a minority group on this side, there was still some increase seen. According to a study led by the University of Bristol and published in the Journal of Gambling Studies, a segment in the gamblers tended to gamble online more than six times before the pandemic. Another survey led by the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) showed that many men took part in live dealer casinos three times more than women. So, in a particular segment of society, a significant increase in online gambling was also seen.
To conclude, it can be said that every situation sometimes has positive and negative impacts. The same is the case with the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the world’s seven billion people. Some of the businesses were destroyed, and some rose to new heights within a few months. The same goes for live dealer casinos; in the pandemic, it was hit hard, and people started refraining from joining such platforms, but many were those whose use was increased. Over time, participants are growing on this most entertaining platform.
Adam Lane, the editor at OnlineCasinoHEX.ca, has great experience in online gambling. His author page is https://onlinecasinohex.ca/author/adamlane/
Sources:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568543/full
