A recent survey by the UK Gambling Commission has shown that the amount of online gambling has grown considerably over the past year in the UK. Nearly 10% of respondents claimed to have participated in some form of online gambling, particularly “remote gambling.” Remote gambling is defined as participation in activities such as the lottery via the internet. This is up from 8% last year.
The UK National Lottery can be played online, offering subscription services as well as individual ticket purchases. 42% of UK citizens surveyed claimed that the only online gambling they currently did was on the UK National Lottery. Other lottos available include the scratch tickets and online raffles.
However, even without the upswing in lottery players, online gambling continues to grow in the UK. 5.6% of the population indulged in some form of gambling in 2008 versus 5.2% the previous year. This includes sports betting, poker, casino games, and other wagers. There has been a steady growth in the proportion of UK residents who play online casino games with no sign of decline over the past five years.
The majority of the online gamblers spend their time playing poker, with 2.4% of all the poll respondents answering that they regularly play in an online poker room. The next most popular venues are casino gaming at 1.7% of the population and 1.1%
The UK Gambling Commission’s survey interviewed 2,000 representative UK residents and compiled their responses for this survey.
