The Growth of Online Gambling
Sports betting underwent a big surge in popularity in the 90s with the increase in live televised sports on satellite TV, but as the internet has grown in popularity since the turn of the new millennium, the sudden upsurge in popularity is firmly with online gambling – bingo, casinos, poker and, of course, sports betting.
William Hill, Ladbrokes, and the other main betting sites all have online poker rooms and casinos with a huge variety of games to be played. New players are enticed with very generous-looking deposit-matching bonuses and free bets, sometimes as high as $250 (USD), and existing members are encouraged to keep playing to rack up play-points which can be turned back into cash or used to enter poker tournaments.
Poker tournaments are now big business and are amazing draws for the ordinary man or woman. Freerolls (free entry tournaments) are available daily, and for low buy-ins you can enter qualifiers for major poker tournaments with massive prizes. The prospect of playing alongside celebrities and major sporting personalities is also attracting more and more people to online poker rooms.
The largest gambling country in Europe is the UK where the average expenditure per person on gaming sites is £10-£20 per week. Gambling can take place via mobile phone, computer, or the red button on satellite and digital TV.
One of the major concerns with regard to online gambling is the threat to under-age people, but to counter this there are identity check procedures in place to verify the identity and age of a person prior to them being allowed access.