Virtual Casinos: What NFT Gambling Looks Like in the Metaverse

While cryptocurrency and online casino gambling existed a decade ago, it wasn't common enough to garner a great deal of interest from the general public. However, as the practice of using virtual currency to wager on everything from slots and sports to horse racing and poker spread, crypto betting became much more mainstream. Fast forward ten years, and you've landed here, wondering where in the world a metaverse is, how you bet in it, and what on earth a "Non-fungible token" is, right? Let's get started.

Stepping Into The Metaverse: The Beginning

The alternate reality of a metaverse isn't something people reach accidentally; entering is a conscious act, requiring slightly more effort than the app you unintentionally downloaded from that stupid playable ad. Getting to a metaverse requires research, as every user's immersive, interactive experience expectations will differ. Whether users are entering a metaverse with a headset for the whole experience or prefer connecting to their alternate reality more conveniently via mobile device or computer, today's technology accommodates.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, plans to unveil a VR-free version of its metaverse, Horizon Worlds, in 2023. While this means little to the grandmother using the site to keep up with Junior's latest antics, it's significant to those who prefer to hang out with their friends in a virtual space rather than a physical one. While doing life entirely in a metaverse, with or without VR, isn't possible, exchanging currency, owning virtual real estate, and gambling, among other activities, is. We encourage readers to find the metaverse that best suits them, but those looking for a metaverse with multiple spaces to wager will want to head for Decentraland. Getting started in Decentraland is as quick as most of today's online entertainment, and the metaverse's currency is MANA, from the Ethereum blockchain.

Visiting Decentraland offers users plenty of exciting activities, ranging from meteor mining and socializing to investing in virtual real estate and hitting the slots and poker tables. In short, bettors will love having access to Decentraland casinos, but there's plenty to do for the non-gambling crowd. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are generally the currency in metaverse casinos, making for exciting wagers of a non-reproducible virtual item. Decentraland users can check out the "collections" tab to exchange items for NFTs to get started at one of the virtual casinos in the metaverse. Now that you're at least marginally familiar with the how and why of metaverses, virtual casinos, and NFTs, we'll move on to some of the more essential facts of life in metaverse casinos.

Four Things You Should Know Before Gaming In The Metaverse

Users should know a few things before betting in a Decentraland or other metaverse-based casino. Read on to learn more about the four things gamblers should know before betting in the metaverse.

Hitting up slots and poker tables at an online casino has become so blase a pastime it hardly warrants mention, other than to contrast the experience from one in a metaverse casino. Like players walking into a casino in the physical world, metaverse users can trot their avatar selves up to the tables to start betting. Similarly, when you finish playing or lose your virtual cash, you can get up, leave, and find something else to do without leaving the metaverse.
The interaction in online casinos, even at the live dealer tables, is limited compared to what happens in a physical or metaverse casino. For example, while walking away from an impending, drunken argument with the other guy at the blackjack table is vital in the physical casino, few will complain if you challenge him to a duel in a metaverse casino. In online casinos, players can expect never to encounter either scenario. Like anything, the betting environment that suits your personality and interests is the place to be.
Gambling in the metaverse is a lot of fun for casual users, but those ready to bet serious cash would be best to choose another medium. The biggest problem with metaverse casinos is the need for more regulation. By "more regulation," we mean some regulation. Really, any regulation at all. Metaverse NFT casinos are unaccountable for meeting the standards set by state and local governing bodies. Without it, metaverse gambling will continue to be a maddening wild west that may or may not behave as users expect.
Winnings in metaverse casinos boast economic power within the virtual world, but players cannot use payouts elsewhere unless converted to crypto and withdrawn to a wallet. Typically, a metaverse's native currency is associated with a familiar blockchain; in the case of Decentraland's MANA, Ethereum is the blockchain name users will recognize. The reality, of course, is that most users re-bet their virtual casino winnings, spend the funds elsewhere in the virtual world, or sit on them to demonstrate their virtual wealth within the universe.

Immersive Entertainment With A Side Of Casino Gaming

For now, virtual worlds like Decentraland and its counterparts largely remain as entertainment for visitors. While gamblers are spending time in their favorite virtual world, they can play a few hands of cards, spin the reels, and toss the dice at a casino, although we recommend keeping winnings within the universe unless they know what they're doing. So, if you're ready to transform what may feel like a vague technological future into today's entertainment reality, head into the metaverse and wager at a virtual casino today.