32 million people are doing it!
The UK Gambling Commission released a number of facts and figures surrounding its work and research towards the end of 2017.
Their data revealed c.63% of the UK population which is aged 16 plus (50 million people in total) have gambled during the past year.
Of the 32 million gamblers in the British Isles 29% bet exclusively on the National Lottery; 18% of the ‘gambling population’ now punt online while 29% of those have a preference to bet on their mobile phones.
One alarming stat is the small number of people who believe the gambling industry is “fair and trustworthy”. Only 34% now agree with that sentiment, representing a big decline from 49% in 2008.
Finally a total of 0.8% of the country’s population has been classified as ‘problem gamblers’.
Bitcoin bets
As for the year ahead Cashdrop Casinos believe keeping abreast of who is doing what, when, where and how may be a little harder to track due to the rising popularity of online casino play using cryptocurrencies.
Not requiring a financial trail or even UK Gambling Commission regulation, wagers placed on Bitcoin sites are set to grow and grow.
Already a remarkable 60% of all Bitcoin transactions are thought to be for gambling purposes and over 330 Bitcoin transactions per-second are currently being made for gambling/betting and online casino play.
Esports is going to prosper
And the biggest ‘up and comer’ for 2018 will surely be Esports betting. Just consider 116 million people watched the 2017 League of Legends World Championships and 3 million less watched the Superbowl 2017.
With a predominantly under-30 fan-base, online bookmakers are sure to target Esports gamblers with more vigour than ever in the coming months.
So look out for Esports free bet offers aplenty, more in-play betting opportunities than ever and even some themed Esports virtual games making their debut in 2018.
Betway offer the widest range of Esports betting opportunities amongst online bookmakers.
Betway’s Esports focus may be on CS:GO, League of Legends and DOTA2 (Esports ‘big-three’) but they also accept bets on Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, World of Tanks, Starcraft 2 and Rocket League.