Great Britain is considered one of the most gambling countries in Europe, where gamblers from all over the world flock. According to official statistics, 73% of adults in the United Kingdom have played at least once in the past year. Most of them assure that the game is not a way to cope with financial difficulties, but a way to spend pleasant free time.
The trend of modern life is that new online casino are gaining great popularity among the British. The UK is a country where citizens are allowed to visit virtual gaming sites. Moreover, the country itself issues licenses for gambling business and recognizes licenses issued by other countries. All documents issued for the operation of English online casinos are carefully checked in order to ensure the safety of payments. Many thousands of players from all over the world prefer to visit English online casinos due to their high reputation. Players note the high quality of service, fast payouts, and a wide variety of gambling games.
How do the British play?
62% of British prefer buying various lottery tickets and betting at special offices. While 31% do it online through dedicated sites and mobile applications. Now, 277 licenses have been issued in the country to conduct business in the field of online casino.
Games via mobile apps and websites currently account for 17 to 40 percent of the gaming market’s cash flow. Gaming directions are gradually coming from real casinos to the virtual casino system. For example, online poker has become much more popular than regular poker clubs, which are closing in hundreds around the world.
Who is playing?
According to statistics, 51% of the world’s population plays regularly gambling. In the UK, there are about 66% of such people; this includes those who play the national lotteries. 14% of Britons play online casinos, and this number is growing very quickly. The British themselves are not very willing to play on the sites of British casinos, they prefer other countries more. This choice is obvious — native sites offer almost no bonuses and gifts, and foreign sites simply bombard with gifts. For example, they double the first deposit at their own expense, tournaments for money, cashback and other services are common. At the same time, there are no problems with access and with the input of money to the game deposit and withdrawal of money back. Electronic money and international bank cards are supported. There are no language problems as the online casino system supports different languages. The main target audience of online casinos is young people from 14 to 17 years old. Of course, these are not moneybags, but they play a lot, they lose often. This is very beneficial for the casino.
What games are played?
Most of the money the British spend on sports betting. In second place are casinos, roulette and slot machines, then bingo and poker. The first site with the game Bingo was opened in 1998. This game did not find too much popularity on the Internet. The first online poker (it was Planet Poker) was opened in 1998. Online poker became especially popular in 2003 when the World Series of Poker appeared on television. During this time, the number of poker players has increased significantly.
How much?
Experts point out that it is very difficult to assess the revenue in the online casino market. In 2005, it was thought to be about $ 12 billion. In 2010 – more than 30 billion. Now, some are talking about 150 billion, others about 200. The difference in amounts is because often the activities of casinos on the Internet are not regulated in any way and huge amounts of money pass through such sites. On average, Brits spend about $ 220 a year on gambling per household.
The state regulates the activities of online casinos
The UK Gambling Commission has approved a new list of measures that regulate the operation of online casinos. She ruled that all online casinos in the country should develop and implement a program through which each player will be able to independently block access to slot machines in a certain place: from a work or home computer, from a mobile phone. Casino operators must implement the function of providing complete reporting on the money spent for the allotted period.
The purpose of the innovations:
1. Restriction of access to gambling for money. The presence of such a function will allow players to block access without the possibility of cancellation. The blocking will cover home and work computers, tablets, smartphones, etc.
2. Calculation of the funds spent. This will allow players to manage their expenses more efficiently. If they see how much they have already spent on the game, they can stop in time.
3. Ability to check online casinos for honesty and transparency of financial transactions.
4. Reducing social tension and the risk of gambling addiction.
Given the ever-growing criticism of online casinos and the regularly appearing news about tragic situations associated with gambling, such innovations can become a lifeline for honest casinos not only in the UK, but also in other countries.