Many forecasters were predicting a big year for online casinos. 2020 was set to be one of the biggest years for the industry due to the continued increase in access of the internet around the world. One glance at the report by Gamblers Daily Digest produced in September 2020, shows the online gambling market was valued at $46 billion towards the end of 2019. This is predicted to grow to a figure of $94 billion by 2024.
The internet is becoming readily available in countries that have not always had easy access to the world wide web. Countries such as Nigeria, have seen a significant Increase in the number of people gambling online using mobile devices thanks to the availability of a good internet connection.
The high quality of online casinos now available has also helped to boost the number of people playing casino games online. Long gone are the days of having a basic website, with a handful of games. Now, we have a fantastic choice of online casinos, the majority of which boast a huge number of games in different categories including slots, table games, card games, jackpots, and live casino games.
You only have to look at the online casino selection at CasinoTop10 to realise the fantastic choice of casinos available on the internet. Many of these continue to offer a tremendous bonus package for new players and every time a new member joins, it increases the number of people playing at online casinos.
However, 2020 has seen a significantly larger spike than predicted in the number of people using online casinos. This is in part due to the outbreak of COVID-19 around the world. The spread of coronavirus saw the closing of most land based casinos. It left those who enjoyed playing games at their local casino or travelling to Las Vegas for a gambling weekend with a huge hole in their lives. With their hobby taken away from them, people began to search for alternative ways to play casino games and that led them to online casinos.
The United Kingdom Gambling Commission said they had noticed a rise in the number of people gambling online during lockdown. Overall, there was actually a drop in the number of bets being placed due to the cancellation of sporting events but in terms of online slots, poker, and table games, the numbers went up.
It is now possible to download casino applications to mobile devices, making it easier than ever before to enjoy playing online casino games. So, even those who did not have access to a computer throughout lockdown, still had a way to play casino games online. In fact, looking at some of the latest trends, in 2017 61% of online casino revenues came from mobile bets and 72% of betting stakes were from mobile devices.
It will be interesting to see how these figures develop throughout the latter part of 2020, especially in the winter months. The popularity of online casinos may continue to rise for some time.