Monthly Archives: October 2010

Online Gambling Trumps Social Media

A recent study conducted by Nielson Media Research into social media and online gambling has revealed that online gambling is more popular amongst internet users in the UK than social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter.

While the use of social media has become a global phenomenon in recent years, it seems that online gambling remains more attractive to British citizens than catching up on the latest gossip or adding and poking friends.  According to statistics, 3.2 million UK individual visited online casino sites and sports books in 2009, while only 2.2 million logged in to social media websites.

The study also revealed that the number of online gamblers looking to place wagers or play casino games on the internet has risen by a whopping 40% year-on-year and that the typical demographic profile for the average online gambler indicates that on average 50% are well educated, high earning individuals.

When discussing study, Neil Betson of Nielsen Media Research, stated that: “While the phenomenal growth in gambling sites over the last two years has been driven by men and women of all ages, it appears to be powered particularly by middle-aged men, the well educated and high-earning households.”

While many areas of the online gambling industry may have suffered slightly in 2010 due to economic instability caused by the global recession of the last few years as well as shifts in political landscapes, it seems that online casinos and sports books have continued to hold their own and will be around far into the foreseeable future which is good news for gambling enthusiasts.

€200,000 Jackpot win at Casino Club

Just two hours after the introduction of the increased jackpot of €200,000 on the popular Jackpot Poker Video Poker machine it was hit by a UK based player known only as “Gavin” at Casino Club.

Betting the maximum on each hand, Gavin only played 55 rounds before hitting the massive jackpot of €235,716!  After receiving a hand consisting of the King, Queen and Jack of spades, a 3 of hearts and 6 of diamonds, Gavin held only the King and Queen.  With these two cards held, the next hand was a Royal Flush and he won the jackpot.  Check out the screen summary below:

Video Poker Jackpot Win

 

When contacted by a Casino Club customer service representative, Gavin stated: “I am so happy and I still can’t believe it. Tonight, I’m just going to celebrate by having a big party!

This is not the only jackpot up for grabs at the casino though, currently the Aladdin’s Lamp Jackpot stands at a whopping €2 million!  There are also numerous other jackpot games on offer, so visit Casino Club today and you could be their next winner.

Online Casino Regulation better than Prohibition

The past few years have been fraught with market changes in the online casino industry with some governments attempting to ban online gambling citing it as “unsafe” for their citizens but whether this is the actual concern or not really does come into question. The more obvious explanation for the proposed bans are due to the fact that online casinos often take potential tax dollars offshore.

Rather than attempting to ban online casinos and gambling, European governments have begun to open their countries to these activities, a trend which has been particularly prevalent in the last few months. In fact, Microgaming’s CEO Roger Raatgever recently mentioned the increased opportunities that the company was being exposed to due to European countries changing their policies and regulations.

Obviously each country’s government will decide what it deems the best ways to regulate, tax and license online casinos although these will be subject to the EU’s European Commission rulings on what can and cannot be passed as law. In general though, it makes a lot more sense for countries to be progressive in their regulations in of online casinos and benefit from a portion of the income they produce. The problem comes in though when governments become too stringent in their taxation and online casino operators are then unable to run casinos at a profit after software licensing, staffing and taxation overheads, so it really is a matter which warrants careful consideration and communication between both parties.

The United Kingdom has been a pioneer in proving that online casinos can be successfully regulated and beneficial to a country. Regulation, licensing and taxation began in 2009 and has been running relatively smoothly since with licensed online casinos reporting any underhanded business in the industry in order to ensure a safe environment for players as well as promoting and adhering to reasonable gambling rules and strategies for closing accounts which reveal addictive gambling patterns in players.

Commenting on the proposed regulations throughout Europe, Microgaming CEO Roger Raatgever stated that regulatory moves were more progressive because prohibition just leads to unsavoury operations and creates monopolies in countries that only allow state online casinos. The US is currently one of the biggest breaches of fair trade when it comes to online casinos. There have been numerous online casinos operating illegally in the US since the UIGEA law that was passed in 2005 which means that there is absolutely no way to protect players from unsavoury practices which is only achieved through proper regulation.

As a player you should always research online casinos thoroughly, take note of advice on finding reliable online casinos and only play at those licensed in reputable jurisdictions like those promoted here on bettingcorp.com.