In March 2011, one of many major online casinos announced that it had dealt its one billionth blackjack hand. And when you think of exactly how many web casinos exist, it gives you some notion of so how popular visiting casinos online is. When the very first online casino went reside in 1996, nobody may have predicted the twists, turns, and huge growth the would experience, particularly when you include smart cellular devices, which are finding their way into more hands every day.
Statistics by Nielsen Media Research in 2010 revealed that in the UK alone, online gambling traffic was up by 40% over 2009. In addition, it discovered that 46% of online players were women and about 50% were middle aged men with above average salaries. And in the US, the National Annenberg Survey of the Young discovered that some 16% of college-aged men visited online casinos at the least monthly, up dramatically over 2008 figures.
Many online gambling venues credit the increase in popularity to the development of industry standards by groups like eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance), better responsiveness to customer support, and a commitment to providing players with safer, higher quality sites. Newer payment methods are coming online, and more currency and language choices are also assisting vegus168 in the worldwide growth of gambling websites.
One of the biggest world regions for expansion of online gambling is Latin America. These 33 countries, with a population of around 570 million, are ripe for investment by web gambling firms. In fact, investors in areas like financial service providers and online server operators are keenly eying Latin America as a top for expansion.
A chief basis for the appeal of expanding online gaming into Latin America is the existing telecommunications infrastructure, including widespread availability of broadband and mobile internet. In 2009, access to the internet reached nearly 200 million Latin Americans, and it absolutely was growing at a cut of 30% per year.
Mobile online gambling appears to have the greatest potential for growth in Latin America, because device penetration in the region was at 80% in 2009, which was above the world average, with mobile networks reaching nearly 500 million people. Couple this with the rapidly evolving graphics and game features especially for cellular devices, and it is clear why any casino online seeking to expand would do well to consider this region.
But mobile device gambling isn’t only a Latin American phenomenon. Mobile items are rapidly growing in popularity everywhere, and the web casinos that develop applications for it are those who is likely to be first in line to make the most of this market.
Online gambling has come quite quite a distance since 1996. More regulations are in place to simply help reassure consumers, and more payment and currency choices are available. The graphics and software platforms are a lot better than ever, casinos are taking a new look at customer support, and mobile handheld devices like Android phones and iPhones are opening up a fresh sector in online gambling. In short, it is really a very exciting time for the internet gambling industry.