Since thousands of years, people have been betting on the outcomes of various
games and events. This activity is carried at the places such as casinos, game
parlors, bookmakers and currently online gambling. The online gaming market is
one of the fastest growing segments of the gambling industry.
The market has witness online gaming business progressively moving globally,
shifting the form of the gambling industry with many consumers adapting the
Internet to gamble on slots, bet on sports or play cards. The roll-out of broadband
services along with the rapid expansion of smartphone and tablet is one of the
factors contributing to the growth of this market. Additionally, increased
consumer confidence in effective and low-cost payment mechanisms; significant
investment by the online gaming industry to promote its services is also
further driving the market growth.
The online
gambling and betting market is classified as sports betting, online poker, casino games including
games such as slot machines, online bingo, and online lottery. Though, casinos
and land-based lottery dominate the gambling landscape, online real-money
betting and gambling are growing rapidly across the world.
This industry has witnessed varied regulatory landscape on online
gambling and betting. Most of the Western European countries have laws in place
to channelize online gambling and betting. Asian and North American countries’
major online real-money games are still awaiting progress in gambling and
betting regulation. In the U.S. online gambling is legal only in three states
whereas Asian countries allow gambling and betting only in casino resorts.
Increasing demand of online betting and gambling is forcing governments to act
to regulate.
Some of the key trends in online gambling and betting industry include social
and mobile gambling. Increasing number of users for mobile gambling has
propelled the growth of online gambling and betting market. Social gambling,
developed from the aspiration of game developers to monetize gaming on social
networks is a key trend followed by the market players. Moreover, the growing
acceptance of the digital currency Bitcoin is another trend in online gambling,
boosting the growth of the market.
U.S. States including New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware have allowed online
gambling on their territories, with more states expected to follow in near
future. In November 2013, New Jersey, the largest of the three, observed
legalization of online casinos and generated almost USD 1 million during the first
week of operations. The valued amount is analyzed to reach USD 10 million per
month in 2014, with almost millions of users getting registered. Brazilian
gamblers extensively use offshore sports betting and gambling websites. This
market has observed substantial growth in 2014 owing to the FIFA World Cup in
Brazil. In Argentina and Mexico, online gambling is permitted only under
special license. Argentina has the largest number of registered online gambling
and betting websites in Latin America. With the legalization of online gambling
in several U.S. states, Mexican casinos are expected to partner with them to
boost the market.
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