Online Bingo: How Full Is Your House?

Posted by Gambling News | Bingo News | Saturday 27 April 2013 6:38 pm

Today it is virtually impossible to switch on the television, or flip through a UK newspaper without seeing an ad for an online bingo site. These websites have become the trendiest places to play if you fancy good night in. A great deal of advertising money is spent on making sure that all the best sites are visible to the public. But who is playing this game, and why has it become so popular?

A typical sort of night in for a typical sort of online bingo player, might see someone playing every night or at least regularly for two or three hours; sometimes more, sometimes less. Most people who play at these websites, don’t do it for the prizes, they play for the "social" aspect of chatting with friends, and making new online buddies. Some spend more than they win, but others win really good prizes, when they do win, generally we hear them say that they never expected to win.

The amount of new online bingo sites coming on to the World-wide web has also increased exponentially, and there is always supply where there is demand. Just a few short years ago, back in 2004, there were less than twenty such sites for the UK-facing audience. Today it is believed there are approximately 350 such websites.

Operators and owners of bingo websites range from Capital Venture partners, through newspapers such as The Sun, and live bingo club operators. Two of the biggest names in British Bingo are also found online. These are Gala and Mecca Bingo.

Originally this game was synonymous with smoky rooms, crowded tables and the camaraderie of a night out with the girls, but it has changed, and the socialising aspect of bingo has very much moved online. It was also once synonymous with older players, and now while elderly people do play online, the gross demographic is younger. Some start as young as 18.

One 21 year old player reported that she plays two to three times a week, and then five hours on Sunday. Citing that she enjoys the excitement the game provides, as well as the companionship of other players in the chat rooms. Not once was there made a mention of the prizes she could possibly win.

It is the chat-room that is the “key” element for most online bingo players. Talking or making a noise in a land bingo club is strongly discouraged, in case a ball call is missed or miss-heard. Online players can chat whenever they like. Cards are completed automatically, so there is nothing to concentrate on. Bingo Lingo has evolved, players can chat privately, and the cost of a bingo card starts at only 1p, many games are even for free. So what’s not to like? It is self-evident why the game is so popular.

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Online Slot Game Hall of Gods Pays Out 6.7 Million Euros

Posted by Gambling News | Casino News | Thursday 25 April 2013 10:45 am

Hall of Gods™, the popular online slot game from Net Entertainment, on April 20 paid out yet another life-changing online jackpot, the fourth million euro win in recent years for Hall of Gods™. This time the jackpot amounted to 6.7 MEUR and the lucky Swedish winner, a man in his sixties from the town of Norrköping, staked 2 EUR in the game Hall Of Gods™ at the Malta-based operator Betsson.

This Betsson-jackpot is the third biggest in their history, one being the 2011 Guinness World Record Jackpot of 11.7 MEUR from Net Entertainment’s video slot Mega Fortune™. The next largest was landed last summer when a man from Linköping won 3.12 MEUR in Mega Fortune™ with a 2 EUR stake.

Hall of Gods™ is a progressive jackpot and part of Net Entertainment’s jackpot network, where the liquidity from players from many of the most popular European online casinos is pooled. In Hall of Gods™ players come face-to-face with Norse mythology in a 5-reel Triple Jackpot featuring the Midgard Serpent in the expanding wild, and Odin’s ravens on the scatter symbol. The bonus game features Thor’s hammer which players can use to break shields and match three to win one of the three jackpots or a variable coin amount.

Although this latest win didn’t break January’s World Record Jackpot of 17.8 MEUR from Net Entertainment’s video slot, Mega Fortune™ it is another huge return for the winner.

"Announcing yet another million euro winner so soon after the World Record Jackpot in January is a great testament to our games and continues our history of creating millionaires from our popular progressive video slots. Net Entertainment’s ability to offer high liquidity in our progressive slots sets us out from the crowd and helps player acquisition for operators through the ability to quickly build up jackpots. Net Entertainment would like to wish the winner all the best and congratulate Betsson for another life-changing win." comments Per Eriksson, President and CEO of Net Entertainment.

Net Entertainment’s progressive jackpot portfolios consist of Arabian Nights™, Mega Fortune™ and Halls of Gods™ video slots, all part of the Net Entertainment jackpot network, pooling the liquidity of players from several of Europe’s largest online casinos.

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Mobile Gaming Grows Fastest In The Online Gambling Sector

Posted by Gambling News | Casino News,Gambling News | Wednesday 24 April 2013 9:19 am

We have been seeing some incredible growth figures for the mobile gaming sector of the online gambling industry. It has become obvious that this sector has grown so fast and so quickly, due to the fact that mobile technology now offers the capability of entertaining gamblers on the go. Increased smartphone use is one of the biggest heralds for this boom, and mobile-friendly online casinos are taking advantage of the feeding frenzy.

Some pundits of this industry are telling us that the mobile gambling marketplace will be worth more than $100 Billion by the year 2017. This could be more, but online gambling concerns are banking on sharing $45 Billion in profits, if the market reaches this figure. As one can imagine, some serious business people are looking at this business rather seriously.

Now that smartphones and tablets have been blamed as being the key drivers for this increasing trend, researchers have been taking a look at these users. Currently in the UK alone – 62% of the population are in possession of a smartphone. This is an increase of 14.2% since October 2011. Combine this use with the fact that gambling online has also grown, and we see that the mobile sector is responsible for a massive amount of virtual gambling spend, and it is they who are sparking increased profits for operators. In fact the fastest growth sector has been seen in online, and in-play sports betting by mobile.

Currently 15% of the entire gambling sector of the UK is driven by mobile gamers. A smartphone or tablet is eminently portable, much more so than a laptop ever was. The smaller these devices are, the more desirable they are, and much of a smartphone is taken up by screen. This makes it easy to use to access a game, and the game is easily seen, with superior graphic quality.

We have mobile banking apps too, so, it hasn’t taken long for gambling operators to work out mobile payment systems for playing these games for real money, and winning real money prizes too.

Gone are the days where we had to get dressed up, travel, and pay through the neck to have a night out in a casino. We take our mobile phones wherever we go, so wherever we are is our mobile casino. Games and many apps are free to download, can be played for free or real money, and casinos offer a ton of incentives to get us to play these games. They even give away free money.

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Gambling Online In The UK Reports Exponential Growth

Posted by Gambling News | Gambling Industry News,Gambling News | Sunday 14 April 2013 10:25 am

For years we have been seeing exponential growth in the online gambling market, and a recent report released in the UK only confirms this for us yet again. Since 2008 when £1.27 billion was the number, this industry has grown to be generating a pretty impressive £2 billion in 2012. This is an 80% revenue growth. Internationally the business is worth a whopping £30 Billion.

William Hill claims to hold the largest market share in this UK industry. They are certainly one of the “Betting Giants” in the bricks and mortar biz, where online they control approximately a 15% share. This does not seem like a huge percentage in the bigger scheme of things, but the other large betting brands fall behind by 4% and more. This is quite a big deal when we are looking at figures in the Billions of pounds range.

The most dominant revenue spinner in the UK online gambling market place is sports betting, this has been the case for quite some time. It is also the fastest growth sector, with a high percentage of bets being placed from mobile phones – mostly smartphones. Online/mobile sports betting makes up for a total of 44% of the entire online gambling industry in this country! It has grown by a massive 102%, and is estimated alone to be worth £1 billion!!

Because the industry is such a massive revenue spinner, we have previously reported that the UK Government also wants to get in with a chance to win. Although nothing is concrete as yet, they are contemplating changing the law to lower taxes for online operators. We think this is a case of too little – too late. Gibraltar does not – they are resisting changes to UK Gambling Laws, and understandably so. They stand to lose a huge slice of this industry should UK developers, and operators up and leave from their shores.

Gibraltar has tried to ensure that the EU encourages the UK to drop new draft Gambling Tax Legislation. The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association have even threatened legal proceedings should the new laws ever be enacted. The current UK daft proposals could see significant changes taking place, including removing “White Listing”, as well as requiring all offshore operations to be secondary licensed to offer gaming to residents in the UK.

Gibraltar is an island state that is White Listed which means, they enjoy status as a recognised UK gambling jurisdiction. If White Listing status was removed, taxation was dropped, and or secondary licensing became required, the well-establish Gibraltar online gambling industry might suffer quite significantly.

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Net Entertainment Transcends Operational Highs

Posted by Gambling News | Casino News,Gambling News | Friday 12 April 2013 9:18 am

I have always been a huge fan of Net Entertainment games; this product is used by many UK/European-facing online casinos, and you may even recognise some games names: Jack and The Beanstalk™, Gonzo’s Quest™, Muse: Wild Inspiration™, Demolition Squad™, Zombies™, Blood Suckers™, Hall Of Gods™, Jack Hammer™, Wild Turkey™, Scarface™ and so many more. These games are of such a high quality it is my personal opinion that they outstrip the quality of Microgaming products.

This online gambling development software company has produced excellent results for 2012, and have even been named as the 22nd top employer in Sweden. Yes, they are a Swedish company, listed on the Swedish Stock Exchange, but operate with a remote license out of Malta. They therefore feature together with some of the biggest, and best names in online casinos available to a UK-facing, and European audience.

The operational excellence of this company for the year 2012, only serves to take me back to the days when I used to say "Microgaming had better watch out". The company is growing stronger by the year, and although are not as aggressively producing "mass quantities" of online casino games at the same rate as Microgaming, they produce them with the same if not far better quality.

New (2012) performance records have been set by Net Entertainment, with 12,300,000,000 gaming transactions in total, a 23% increase in revenues (year on year), and since the year 2006 – a median twelve-monthly growth of 32%. They have increased their European market-share to 27%, and the gaming transactions figures we see above, represent an increase of 43%.

NetEnt continues to enter new markets (Italy and Denmark are new), sign more new gaming partners, and has paid out a record breaking Progressive Jackpot Prize amount of over €17 million. In all honesty, what online gambler would not like to play at a site with PJP gaming network potential such as this?

This year, massive online gambling brands have been seen to be offering NetEnt slots, and if they are not, I don’t want to play there. Paddy Power recently joined the fold as did Boyles Sport. They are already found at Unibet, Smart-Live, Bettsson, BetVictor and many, many more. The group says that they are properly geared for opening in newly regulated territories, and it is here they intend to be "in the right place, at the right time".

I still believe that Microgaming has a tough fight on its hands from NetEnt. This brand has signed an agreement with 888 which has its own software development company( what’s that about?) And have also inked a deal with Bonza Gaming for Facebook.

Anyone want to take a bet which developer will come out on top?

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