Sunday 29th of November 2009
Official study charts online bingo uptake
A growing number of adults tried remote gambling this year, according to an official study that may strike a chord with new online bingo players.
The Gambling Commission, an independent body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, quizzed 8,000 adults about whether they placed bets via the internet, mobile internet, SMS or interactive TV.
Over the course of the year to September 2009, an average of 10.6 per cent of respondents replied that they had gambled remotely in the last month.
To put this into context, it was 9.7 per cent in 2008 and just 8.8 per cent a year earlier.
The survey covers all forms of remote gambling, including online bingo, the National Lottery, sports betting, poker and other lotteries.
The gender divide
It seems both men and women are discovering that technology now allows them to play at home, after work and even on the bus.
Some 13.7 per cent of men gambled in 2009 as opposed to 11.7 per cent in 2007.
And the corresponding figure for women was 7.8 per cent, which represents a significant rise on the six per cent reported a couple of years earlier.
Of course, it is by no means the only report to note the continuing rise of internet-based games such as online bingo.
The global gaming bulletin 2009, a 96-page study from Ernst & Young, stated that the credit crunch didn't seem to have affected internet-based operators.
Thomas Roche, global gaming leader at Ernst & Young, commented: "Online games provide a form of escapism for people during the difficult times and the potential audience is huge - anyone with an internet connection.
"The past year has already seen accelerated growth in this area as online games become a fun, cost-effective alternative to other leisure activities during an economic downturn."
