Online Gambling Numbers Up in the UK
A new report issued by the UK Gambling Commission this week titled “Trends in Gambling Behavior 2008 – 2014” explored “trends in gambling participation, including individual gambling activities, modes of participation and frequency” with the process “firstly merging datasets from the quarterly surveys and thereafter conducting analysis”.
Online gambling trends in the United Kingdom during the abovementioned years were one of the areas that were examined which showed that this sector saw an annual participation growth rate of 8.3%. The aggregate increase over the years noted in the report was therefore around 50%.
The report also revealed that remote gambling participation increased from 9.7% in 2008 to 15.4% in 2014.
The report showed that participation in remote gambling appeared to show stronger association with macro-economic factors than overall gambling participation. This included an increase in igaming participation by 0.54 percentage points when “disposable income per head increases by 1% whereas there is no such association between overall gambling participation and disposable income per head”.
The report by the UK Gambling Commission also revealed that participation among male gamblers increased from 11.7% to 18%, while the growth was recorded from 7.8% to 12.8% among women. This difference could be as a result of the growth of mobile gambling, particularly sports betting, where males overwhelmingly dominate the field.
The report also noted that “When excluding National Lottery draws the participation rate has also been significantly higher for men than women throughout the period, being 6.9 percentage points higher in the year to June 2009 and 4.5 percentage points higher in the year to December 2014.”
The report also showed that participation by individuals in the 35-54 year old age group in remote gambling increased from 10.6% in 2008 to 17.6% in 2014 over the past six years.
It also noted that holders of university degrees are more likely to bet online, participate in spread betting and in other lotteries, compared to those without a degree.
138 Online Casino joins Microgaming Poker Network
138.com, a successful online casino and sports book operated by Xela Holdings, has announced that it has chosen the Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) to launch its new online poker offering and is now live on the MPN.
138 Online Casino is currently licensed in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Philippines. The online casino’s corporate headquarters are located on the Isle of Man.
The company has also gained popularity in Asia, where it has been operating for a period of over ten years and the online casino is known for bringing a special Asian gambling experience to its international audience.
138’s online casino and sports book is very involved in sport and is the official club sponsor of Watford Football Club in the Football League Championship and is also the official betting partner of Newcastle United Football Club in the English Premier League.
The head of poker at Microgaming, Alex Scott, revealed on Thursday that the company’s recreational focused poker strategy has now started to pay off and that an increasing number of operators are recognizing the Microgaming Poker Network.
138 Online Casino is currently available to play live with download as well as instant play clients and will soon be launching its mobile offering. The online casino has promised players with Mac or Windows PC’s or any other major tablet or smartphone that they will be able to play together on the same tables on the same network.
According to Lisa Karran, the head of operations at Xela Holdings, the Microgaming Poker Network delivers exactly what they require and they believe that the network has an extremely bright future.
