UK Sees Online Gambling Growth

May 26, 2009

The United Kingdom has seen an increase in the number of people who are participating in online gambling, so much in fact that they are starting to wonder what will happen if the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act or UIGEA is overturned in the US. The country has discovered that without the US participating, the number of people who are participating from their country is at an all time high.

The Gambling Commission says that online gambling participation is currently at its highest in the four years they have been keeping track. The survey shows that almost one in every ten people participate in online gambling; and that either they currently participate in online gambling or they have within the past year.

They think that the number of people participating in the lottery has a lot to do with the increase in online gambling participating. Lottery sales have seen a large increase over the past year, and almost all of those that admit to having gambled within the past year say that they have visited the lottery or made a lottery purchase. Almost half of those that said that they participated in online gambling said that they were strictly speaking about the lottery.

The commission found that although general online gambling has increased, the number has not increased as much as lottery sales have. Sports betting also has a large following, and this is considered part of the lottery. This could have something to do with the numbers as they have found that many people like to participate in sports betting that might not otherwise have anything to do with the lottery itself.






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