Must-haves for gambling: what happened in 2025 and what can we expect in 2026

[danherbias07]

I believe the ease of deposit is still the best thing that has happened in online gambling. There are so many options now, including cryptocurrencies, and they even land on your gambling account in just minutes, sometimes seconds.

The same goes when it comes to withdrawals. I think gamblers feel safer when a gambling site offers fast withdrawals in both fiat and cryptocurrencies. I go crazy when my withdrawal takes 1 hour or more. Either I think I made a mistake with the wallet address, or it's stuck somewhere that will probably need to be discussed with customer service. It's a hassle.

I don't have anything in mind about improvements. I believe what they only need is to preserve the trust and reputation, and it will last longer.

[mindrust]

In my opinion, it would be great if gamblers can invest in a casino's bankroll. I have tried it before with a casino where they have the feature. I don't know about others but for me it's an opportunity to earn some money in the future. Anyway, I think having promotion most of the time and an event would surely make people compete for the prize and not long ago I even read a thread about a person putting funds in another wallet for gambling and wanted to apply for bonuses.

This feature used to be more common but nowadays almost no casino I know offers this. I too want to invest in established casinos with good reputation. It would be great if they were sharing their profits with the investors and that would actually benefit the whole industry. I don’t know why don’t offer this feature anymore. Is it because of the regulations or have they become greedy, I can’t tell. Probably a mixture of both.

We at least had freebitco.in even though they weren’t offering “investment” but they were still paying 4% annually on the deposits (maybe they still do but I don’t care ever since their representative thequin became passive) and that was pretty good.

It is sad we don’t have any of those anymore.

[bitbollo]

It would be great a decentralized exchange of gambling events.
Polymarket, with their platform, has offered a chance for this kind of events.
The announce/support of a similar project by binance group could be another important step... At a certain point this can become the biggest gambling market...

[Porfirii]

It would be great a decentralized exchange of gambling events.
Polymarket, with their platform, has offered a chance for this kind of events.
The announce/support of a similar project by binance group could be another important step... At a certain point this can become the biggest gambling market...

What surprises me is that it hasn't happened yet. We have seen through the last decade that the technology which allows it is already there, but maybe it's easier said than done. Maybe there's not a great interest among well established businesses yet, which makes sense because it would imply losing the control already gained, but I also fantasise with a decentralised service that ends leading the market, like the one you described.

[DrBeer]

It would be great a decentralized exchange of gambling events.
Polymarket, with their platform, has offered a chance for this kind of events.
The announce/support of a similar project by binance group could be another important step... At a certain point this can become the biggest gambling market...

What surprises me is that it hasn't happened yet. We have seen through the last decade that the technology which allows it is already there, but maybe it's easier said than done. Maybe there's not a great interest among well established businesses yet, which makes sense because it would imply losing the control already gained, but I also fantasise with a decentralised service that ends leading the market, like the one you described.

I suppose that decentralized gambling exchanges will conflict with local legislation in many countries, which will make them illegal in many locations. And for gaming exchanges, an active audience is one of the key performance indicators. And yes, from a technological point of view, this is hardly a very complicated process; most likely, the problem lies in the legislative sphere.

[Moreno233]

The issue of KYC is still a major problem with casinos. We know that they have it in their TOS to request for KYC when they deem necessary but it should not be for funny reasons like withdrawing just minor amount of money as low as $50 in some casinos. Demanding for KYC for such a small withdrawal request makes the casino appear like a joke and that is what most upcoming casinos should work on because similar complaints are many in the forum.

[TopT3ns]

It would be great a decentralized exchange of gambling events.
Polymarket, with their platform, has offered a chance for this kind of events.
The announce/support of a similar project by binance group could be another important step... At a certain point this can become the biggest gambling market...

What surprises me is that it hasn't happened yet. We have seen through the last decade that the technology which allows it is already there, but maybe it's easier said than done. Maybe there's not a great interest among well established businesses yet, which makes sense because it would imply losing the control already gained, but I also fantasise with a decentralised service that ends leading the market, like the one you described.

I suppose that decentralized gambling exchanges will conflict with local legislation in many countries, which will make them illegal in many locations. And for gaming exchanges, an active audience is one of the key performance indicators. And yes, from a technological point of view, this is hardly a very complicated process; most likely, the problem lies in the legislative sphere.

The activities that are not within the law make these platforms black markets, which restrict advancement to few risk takers. You have a point when it comes to the audience because only legal compliance can bring about the security that mainstream users demand. I come out with a trade off in which we lose the advantage of complete freedom in favour of legitimacy and huge markets. It will be impossible to create a global financial powerhouse when we always play behind the veil of regulation.

[Davidvictorson]

In my opinion, it would be great if gamblers can invest in a casino's bankroll. I have tried it before with a casino where they have the feature. I don't know about others but for me it's an opportunity to earn some money in the future.

Investing in a casino’s bankroll used to be something I heard in the past but not anymore. I don’t know if they stopped all together or they just make it a little less public. But for whatever reason, I think it would be nice to see this feature have a comeback in casinos in 2026. At least, that would be one responsible way to spending your money even though it will not be exactly gambling but you will be sure of some profit after a period of time.

[Natalim]

Investing in a casino’s bankroll used to be something I heard in the past but not anymore. I don’t know if they stopped all together or they just make it a little less public. But for whatever reason, I think it would be nice to see this feature have a comeback in casinos in 2026. At least, that would be one responsible way to spending your money even though it will not be exactly gambling but you will be sure of some profit after a period of time.

They were popular before, back when it wasn’t even clear if it would be profitable or not. But once they were already tested and people saw the results, they decided to invest on their own and dropped the idea of putting money into a shared bankroll. That actually makes sense.

Even in exchanges, there’s no such thing as putting everything into one outcome and getting guaranteed profit.
That kind of setup just doesn’t exist.

[Slow death]

One important part which I consider casinos to be underrating is their support system. If not all casinos, most of them spend so much money to implement bot reply instead of keeping an active human agent on the live chat that could easily understand what a user want to complain about.

You might not understand how frustrating it is to communicate with a bot while you have urgent issues you need clarification about until you fall victim of such.

I understand your problem. My answer would be this: unfortunately, for sites with hundreds of thousands or even millions of visitors, it is very difficult to create a full-fledged user support service with real people. The key problem is:
- a large support staff means high costs.
- Outsourcing such support “for pennies” - a sharp decline in the quality of this service.
Bots using AI are, of course, soulless, but they can solve the problems of most users extremely quickly, with sufficient quality, and at minimal cost. This is not an excuse for platforms, it is a simple statement of facts and the real situation.

PS I am not an employee, a hired specialist, or a casino worker, I just know how a support service is built, based on 20+ years of experience in IT.

If they were to conduct a survey on how many people encountered a problem at the casino, contacted support, and were assisted by these bots, and had their problems resolved? Honestly, I highly doubt the number would exceed 5%. These support bots are useless; they only irritate. People try to contact human support to explain the problem, and the bot keeps diverting them to unrelated topics, which only makes anyone more irritated. I don't see the point in wasting time with these bots when you can contact support via live chat and email, which would be more practical. Regarding the costs, I don't see them as high, because they would only need 4 employees in live chat for the support to function perfectly and quickly.

[KTChampions]

Hi, everyone!

Let's discuss some questions that are interesting to me from the perspective of gambling service consumers:

What became really important and convenient for you on gambling platforms in 2025, as a player?
I am interested in the features that you use regularly and without which it is already difficult to imagine the platform you choose.
What, in your opinion, should be added/changed in 2026?
Let's not fantasize, but voice real expectations from the players' side. This will be useful for us and interesting for the industry!
We would like to hear from all participants:
— Which solutions have proven to be attractive in practice?
— Which features are currently underrated?
— And which improvements seem like the logical next step to increase the attractiveness of the platforms?

This topic is not only for players, but also for platform representatives!

PS I would like to ask representatives of subscription services and service providers to join the discussion, I'm sure it will be useful for everyone!

For me, the biggest change I've noticed is the rise of prediction platforms (Polimarket, Kalshi). It seems they became popular mainly because of politics, but now they have good liquidity and essentially an incredible number of markets are open to you where you can work without traditional bookmakers. Due to lack of time, I haven't delved into them in depth, but from the outside, it seems like there are a lot of opportunities, especially for those who understand specific topics, such as which team might qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Because FIFA has made the system confusing, market participants' opinions may be far removed from the reality. If you are patient and wait for the market to become inefficient, you can make money there.

[joniboini]

For 2026 players mostly want smoother UX instant or near instant withdrawals better self control tools and less aggressive KYC unless you hit big limits No hype needed just make things work clean and fair

Sounds like it's impossible to happen in the same year tbh. Those are high demands, which probably won't disappear until the end of time. That being said, some privacy-focused platforms will likely have one or two things mentioned here. For example, less aggressive KYC (or none), smoother UI/UX (fewer ads), relatively faster withdrawal (assuming they don't check anything at withdrawal), and so on.

Because FIFA has made the system confusing, market participants' opinions may be far removed from the reality. If you are patient and wait for the market to become inefficient, you can make money there.

Maybe the odds will still reflect that. I don't think bookies will change significantly either.

[DrBeer]

For 2025 the real must haves were fast payouts provably fair games and solid mobile UX If withdrawals take hours or days I am out simple as that Crypto support is a must now especially BTC and stables What still feels underrated is transparency clear limits clear rules and no shady terms For 2026 players mostly want smoother UX instant or near instant withdrawals better self control tools and less aggressive KYC unless you hit big limits No hype needed just make things work clean and fair

Depositing funds in Bitcoin, given its volatility, seems to me to be a dubious advantage. What's more, there are also issues with withdrawal speeds and transaction costs. Stablecoins, in my opinion, are the ideal option! They are guaranteed to retain their value, which is something Bitcoin has struggled to do recently. In short, in my opinion, withdrawing funds in Bitcoin is just another “lottery”

[bitzizzix]

For 2025 the real must haves were fast payouts provably fair games and solid mobile UX If withdrawals take hours or days I am out simple as that Crypto support is a must now especially BTC and stables What still feels underrated is transparency clear limits clear rules and no shady terms For 2026 players mostly want smoother UX instant or near instant withdrawals better self control tools and less aggressive KYC unless you hit big limits No hype needed just make things work clean and fair

Depositing funds in Bitcoin, given its volatility, seems to me to be a dubious advantage. What's more, there are also issues with withdrawal speeds and transaction costs. Stablecoins, in my opinion, are the ideal option! They are guaranteed to retain their value, which is something Bitcoin has struggled to do recently. In short, in my opinion, withdrawing funds in Bitcoin is just another “lottery”

Yes, storing or using stablecoins at casinos is ideal because their price is more stable and won't significantly impact your balance. Bitcoin's price is highly volatile, and even if you win a bet, your winnings can be reduced by Bitcoin fluctuations, especially during downtrends, which can result in your Bitcoin depreciating significantly, even within hours.
And personally, I don't use Bitcoin for gambling unless I win a prize, win a prediction, or other competition, or the Bitcoin payout is paid in full to the casino. If I'm lucky, I'll withdraw it immediately. However, most payouts are made in USDT.

[bubilas]

Hi, everyone!

Let's discuss some questions that are interesting to me from the perspective of gambling service consumers:

What became really important and convenient for you on gambling platforms in 2025, as a player?
I am interested in the features that you use regularly and without which it is already difficult to imagine the platform you choose.
What, in your opinion, should be added/changed in 2026?
Let's not fantasize, but voice real expectations from the players' side. This will be useful for us and interesting for the industry!
We would like to hear from all participants:
— Which solutions have proven to be attractive in practice?
— Which features are currently underrated?
— And which improvements seem like the logical next step to increase the attractiveness of the platforms?

This topic is not only for players, but also for platform representatives!

PS I would like to ask representatives of subscription services and service providers to join the discussion, I'm sure it will be useful for everyone!

I periodically register at casinos that add their campaign signatures to the forum to receive new welcome bonuses. Looking at the latest casinos, I realized that, in general, all online casinos offer roughly the same bonuses, with wagering requirements, but that's beside the point. I realized that my biggest dislike is going through the KYC process at online casinos and bookmakers. For some reason, when I want to withdraw my winnings, I start to worry that they won't let me do so, because I've encountered this many times before.
There have even been cases where casinos simply didn't want to give me my winnings.

[DrBeer]

It would be great a decentralized exchange of gambling events.
Polymarket, with their platform, has offered a chance for this kind of events.
The announce/support of a similar project by binance group could be another important step... At a certain point this can become the biggest gambling market...

What surprises me is that it hasn't happened yet. We have seen through the last decade that the technology which allows it is already there, but maybe it's easier said than done. Maybe there's not a great interest among well established businesses yet, which makes sense because it would imply losing the control already gained, but I also fantasise with a decentralised service that ends leading the market, like the one you described.

I suppose that decentralized gambling exchanges will conflict with local legislation in many countries, which will make them illegal in many locations. And for gaming exchanges, an active audience is one of the key performance indicators. And yes, from a technological point of view, this is hardly a very complicated process; most likely, the problem lies in the legislative sphere.

The activities that are not within the law make these platforms black markets, which restrict advancement to few risk takers. You have a point when it comes to the audience because only legal compliance can bring about the security that mainstream users demand. I come out with a trade off in which we lose the advantage of complete freedom in favour of legitimacy and huge markets. It will be impossible to create a global financial powerhouse when we always play behind the veil of regulation.

Unfortunately, honest casinos are required to comply with all legal regulations and bear certain costs, while casinos that violate the law can do whatever they want! But not for long, and as a rule, there is a huge risk that your money, both deposited and won, will never be returned to you—blocking funds in the accounts of such casinos usually results in the complete loss of your money, and the probability of this happening is close to 100%.
 
 

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

So, I had an experience recently with one of the crypto casinos I've been using, I had issue in withdrawal of my winning because of the blockchain network I used for the withdrawal and I tried to contact the customer support but I was told that they are offline, I waited for more than 4 hours and yet they were offline but they asked me to drop my complaints and the email they can contact me with. I did as I was told but for the whole long hours of waiting, I didn't get any response but I struggled to figure out the solution of the problem I was facing. So, what I'm expecting all this trending casinos on the forum is that they should strengthen their customer's support. 

Bots have significantly replaced the casinos customers care, bots which can not answer or solve your questions. Did you experience the poor customer service on just one gambling site or more than one gambling sites? Because there are some gambling sites that will have good customers care while some gambling sites will have very bad customers care service. As for me I do prefer to wait for like 24 hours if I am having issues but some gambling sites respond faster while some have live chats.

Just one gambling site, I have never had the experience with any other site apart from this one recently. The first time I would have had a similar experience on stake.com casino, I contacted the customer service and just a minute or two after chatting with the bot, I got transfered to the live support agent and they gave me the instruction to follow, it was very smooth, but it was not the same situation with this recent casino I tried.

[Pandu Geddon]

What, in your opinion, should be added/changed in 2026?
Let's not fantasize, but voice real expectations from the players' side. This will be useful for us and interesting for the industry!

I am not quite confident about a feature update in the casino platform development. Currently, some casinos that I usually play at do not have any issues. Fast support, deposits, and withdrawals work without problems. Aren't some gamblers also looking for those things in a casino? Sometimes simple features actually add value to a casino because not all gamblers are very interested in complicated and heavy modern designs.

[suzanne5223]

The issue of KYC is still a major problem with casinos.

I'm surprised you still said KYC is a major problem of gambling platform when this is an issue solved by 2up.io through their total KYC gaming service.
The also have special event for Bitcointalk gamblers and their terms and conditions is one of the fair .

We know that they have it in their TOS to request for KYC when they deem necessary but it should not be for funny reasons like withdrawing just minor amount of money as low as $50 in some casinos. Demanding for KYC for such a small withdrawal request makes the casino appear like a joke and that is what most upcoming casinos should work on because similar complaints are many in the forum.

Not your keys not your coin.
It better to go for gambling platform that's zero KYC or else read their terms and condition before.

[maydna]

Most casinos perform well and this year, I haven't had any problems with any of the casinos I used to gamble at. They all satisfied me and I can enjoy my gambling time with them.

I don't have a problem with KYC but they need to chill a bit on their KYC regulations and apply them only to those who want to withdraw large amounts of money.

But I am a bit confess that their support is lacking. This needs to be addressed by casinos so they can solve this and not make members wait too long. I face this in some casinos so I hope they can restructure their agents and add more.

We need to hear from casino representatives about their reaction.