These days, it seems like almost everyone is familiar with gambling on the Internet. Be it online poker, Blackjack, or some other game, most people are either doing it or know someone who is. It seems like these Internet gaming sites sprung up overnight. How did they get started and how have they reached the levels they are at today?

In 1994, the country of Antigua and Barbuda in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean became a legal jurisdiction that could give out gambling licenses. Since gambling is not licensed in most of the United States, this fact made the creation of an online gambling site very tempting. There was now a location out of which online casinos could operate and still cater to clients in America and elsewhere. There was still the matter, however, of having the software to facilitate online gaming.

Microgaming was the first to answer the call, creating the first real online casino software in 1994. Cryptologic shortly followed. Cryptologic, formed in 1995, was created by Andrew and Mark Rivkin in an effort to produce ease in Internet transactions. Online gaming was a natural outcropping of this endeavor and in 1996, their software was the foundation for InterCasino, which allowed real money play over the Internet.

At that time, the Internet was just beginning to generate the kind of traffic that it enjoys today. As the years passed, more improvements were made on gaming software to enhance the experience and more people began to discover the exciting prospects the Internet had to offer in this area.

In 1998, Planet Poker, the first online poker site, was launched. PokerRoom followed shortly afterwards, in 1999. In 2001, the two giants of online poker, Party Poker and Poker Stars, entered the scene. The explosion in poker popularity helped these sites tremendously, Party Poker, because it advertised frequently on the World Poker Tour and even shared its spokesperson, Mike Sexton and PokerStars, because the 2003 World Series of Poker Champion Chris Moneymaker won his seat on a PokerStars satellite tournament for $40.

The main concern many of these sites have today is that new legislation, especially in the United States, will block users from legally availing themselves of these sites. A number of lobbying organizations, such as the Poker Players Alliance, have sprung up in an effort to ward off these attempts. The CardPlayer website, www.cardplayer.com, has a link which can direct you how to write Congress in opposition to such legislation.

Today, online casinos for poker, traditional casino games such as Blackjack and Roulette and even newer games such as Caribbean Stud and Pai Gow Poker, are all over the Internet. The software for casino gaming websites is constantly being refined, giving most of the sites a beautiful look and feel, as well as ease in playability and navigating the site. If you enjoy casino gambling, surf around and check some of these sites out. There is bound to be at least one site that provides the gaming experience you are looking for.