The Canadian gambling industry is undoubtedly a massive business, with an annual estimated worth of about $13 billion. Due to the ever-increasing popularity and prevalence of online casinos, the industry has contributed immensely to the country’s economy, growing exponentially in recent years.

To stay relevant in a highly competitive industry, it’s essential that online casinos adapt to the latest technology trends quickly—with innovations such as augmented and virtual reality stealing headlines in the industry. However, virtually every industry is trying to discover ways to best apply the latest advances in A.I. and data analysis technology—and this technology could completely revolutionize how the world of online gambling works.

Utilizing smarter data

Just as traditional (land-based) casinos have been carrying out deep studies to better retain players, online casinos have equally began analyzing customers’ behaviour to accomplish the same outcome. Utilizing this information, sites can make more informed decisions to better anticipate players’ needs and discover what cause them to play a certain game, quit or even switch games.

Like much of A.I., discovering how to convert the abundance of data into information is critical. However, depending on the required outcome, some online casinos in Canada could use the information to detect certain elements that make certain games more popular then others, while many more may strictly use it to maximize their profits.

Better Gaming Experience

Although AI technology has developed at a rapid rate in recent years, the incorporation of AI and gaming had begun over two decades ago, when world chess champion, Garry Kasparov was defeated by the Deep Blue computer created by IBM in a six-match game.

In early 2017, a 20-day poker competition called Brains vs. Artificial Intelligence: Upping the Ante was held in Pittsburgh. The contest pitted four poker pros (Jason Les, Jimmy Chou, Daniel McAulay, and Dong Kim) against Libratus, a Carnegie-Mellon designed Hold’em-playing computer.

After playing more that 120,000 hands, Libratus AI held the high stack with around $1,766,250 in chips over numerous top-rated players.

 “A.I.’s ability to do strategic reasoning with imperfect information has now surpassed that of the best humans,” said Tuomas Sandholm, a co-developer.

AI offers the enticing possibility of a more improved user experience and can aid leading online casinos like 888 poker Canada  to create a platform that’s virtually been constructed with the individual player preferences. in mind. AI can continually learn from each individual player’s gaming sessions in order to build a more personalized, player-specific home page.

Improved Customer Service

Smarter AI will eradicate the use of generic and comically inhuman customer service bots in various online casinos in Canada. They would be replaced by advanced bots that can access and analyze knowledge about a customer’s specific playing habits—granting quicker access to personalized and more relevant answers.

According to a recent study by Oracle, 78% of brands say they, “have already implemented or are planning to implement artificial intelligence and virtual reality by 2020 to better serve customers.”

“Player retention and customer experience have always been hotly discussed topics, however with new regulations fast approaching and new market entrants joining all the time, the buzz seems louder than ever,” said Hampus Lindberg, Commercial Director at Wiraya, a company focused on player retention and lapsed-player activation solutions at the iGB Live conference.

Preventing Cheating

Advances in AI technology and machine learning would aid online casinos easily fetch out cheats and ensure there a level playing field at all times.

An advantage of playing online casino games is that for the most part, players can utilize reference tools—like hand probability calculators in poker or basic strategy charts in blackjack—with no direct consequence.

However, the implementation of AI would greatly minimize the disadvantages associated with an inability to physically monitor player behaviour—allowing casinos to stay one step ahead of would-be fraudsters, disrupting their employment of probability programs and their own AI bots to make play much fairer for everyone.   

AI has the potential to transform the Canadian casino industry, making it more safer and entertaining for every player. It opens up a world of immense possibilities that allows for a more efficient and individual experience while increasing customer retention rates.

“One of the most common challenges operators face is a conversion of newly registered customers to first deposit. So many businesses spend significant resources on acquiring new customers yet fail with longer-term retention, resulting in millions in revenue simply going to waste,” explained Lindberg.