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Foundations · start here

What iGaming actually is

“iGaming” is the industry’s name for online gambling — casino games, sports betting, poker, bingo and lottery played for real money over the internet. This page is the whole picture in one place: what it is, how the pieces fit together, and where it came from. Then the guided path to learn it properly.

Start the guided path →new to the industry? a week to conversant →

How the industry fits together

One player, a chain of specialists behind the brand — and one constant underneath.

  1. 1Playerplaces a stake
  2. 2Operatorthe brand you see
  3. 3Platform & suppliersthe software & games
  4. 4Testing labscertify fairness
  5. 5Regulatorlicenses & sets rules
  6. 6Paymentsmove the money

The one constant across almost every product: the odds are set so the house keeps a margin over time — a game’s RTP and the house edge it implies. We frame everything as expected loss over time, never as a way to make money.

The main verticals

Casino & slotsRNG games where the return is fixed in the maths — slots, RNG table games.Open →Live casinoReal dealers streamed in real time — roulette, blackjack, game shows.Open →Sports bettingOdds priced with a built-in margin; pre-match and in-play.Open →Crypto & Web3Crypto changes the payment rails, custody and risk — never the house edge.Open →B2B & industryThe supply side — platforms, suppliers, payments, data and affiliates.Open →

Poker, bingo & lottery are covered in Learn. The map keeps growing.

How it got here

  1. 1994Antigua licences the first online operators
  2. 2003the “Moneymaker” online-poker boom
  3. 2006UIGEA forces a US retreat
  4. 2018the US Supreme Court strikes down PASPA
  5. todaylive casino, mobile, crypto & prediction markets
The full, dated timeline →
You’ve got the map. Now the journey.Learn takes you from “what is RTP?” to reading a regulator — a guided path with a 2-minute placement so you start at the right level.
Start learning →

Go deeper

Glossary 451 defined terms, cross-linkedThe Lab Watch the maths run — house edge, variance, oddsCompliance ★ Regulators, labs, standards, AML, RG — the professional layerPlayer protection Understand the risk, self-check, get help

451 defined terms · 35 history milestones and counting. Independent, 18+, non-promotional — we explain the game, we never sell it.