Online Gambling

Forms of online gambling

The Internet has made way for new types of gambling to form online. The recent improvements in technology have once again changed betting habits just as Video Lottery Terminal, keno and Scratchcards changed the gambling industry in the early 20th century.

Internet gambling has become one of the most popular and lucrative business present on the Internet. In 2007 the gambling commission stated that the gambling industry achieved a turnover of over £84 billion according to the UK Gambling Commission. This is partly due to the wide range of gambling options that are available to facilitate many different types of people.

Poker

Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz, HORSE and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures. Players play against each other rather than the "house", with the card room making its money through "rake" and through tournament fees.

Casinos

There are a large number of online casinos in which people can play casino games such as roulette, blackjack, pachinko, baccarat and many others. These games are played against the "house" which makes money due to the fact that the odds are in its favor.

Sports betting

Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. Usually the wager is in the form of money.

Bingo

Online bingo is the game of bingo (US|non-US) played on the Internet.

Lotteries

Most lotteries are run by governments and are heavily protected from competition due to their ability to generate large taxable cash flows. The first online lotteries were run by private individuals or companies and licensed to operate by small countries. Most private online lotteries have stopped trading as governments have passed new laws giving themselves and their own lotteries greater protection. Government controlled lotteries now offer their games online.

UK National Lottery

The UK National Lottery started in 1994 and is operated by the Camelot Group. Around 70% of UK adults play the National Lottery regularly, making the average annual sales over £5 billion apart from the year 2000-01 where sales dropped just below that. In its first 17 years it has created over 2,800 millionaires. In 2002 Camelot decided to rebrand the National Lottery main draw after falling ticket sales. The name National Lottery was kept as the general name for the organisation and the main draw was renamed Lotto. The advertising campaign for the new Lotto cost £72 Million which included 10 television advertisements featuring Scottish comedian Billy Connolly and one of the largest ever poster campaigns. The new brand and name had the slogan:

Horse racing betting

Horse racing betting comprises a significant percentage of online gambling wagers and all major Internet bookmakers, betting exchanges, and sports books offer a wide variety of horse racing betting markets

Mobile gambling

Mobile gambling refers to playing games of chance or skill for money by using a remote device such as a tablet computer, smartphone or a mobile phone with a wireless internet connection.

In-Play gambling

In-Play gambling is a feature on many online sports betting websites that allows the user to bet while the event is in progress. A benefit of live in-play gambling is that there are much more markets. For example, in Association football a user could bet on which player will receive the next Yellow card, or which team will be awarded the next corner kick.

Provably fair gambling

With the dawn of Bitcoin, provably fair gambling also became available for a global audience. These gambling sites allow the public to see how outcomes are based on the gambler's input and a secret number that is disclosed and changed for the next rounds every hour for example. This allows online gamblers to verify if the website "played" fair.