What Does the 80% Growth in UK Online Gambling Mean?

The online gambling industry has been abuzz with the news over the last few days stating that there has been an 80% increase in UK online gambling revenue since 2008. The figures show that the online gambling industry in the UK was worth an incredible £2 billion in 2012, compared to £1.27 billion in 2008. The increase has been put down to several factors; notably the increase in mobile gambling technology, the increase in online casinos and the wide variety of sports betting events which have taken place in the last several years.

Where Have The Increases Been Seen? 

Sports Betting: Up 102%. Sports’ betting still dominates the industry, making up 44% of the overall revenue, an increase undoubtedly due to the advances in mobile phone and online betting platforms in the last two years.

Online Casinos: Up 79%. With the second biggest market share, the last several years has seen a flood of new online casinos, on computers, tablets and mobile phone devices.

Online Bingo: Up 155%. Worth 17% of the market, this huge increase will have been aided by the closure of a lot of land based bingo halls which has sent their players to online platforms.

Online Poker: Up 8%. A smaller increase, but this means that online poker contains 15% of the online gambling market in the UK, its smaller percentage possibly due to the game being harder to master.

Is This Good News For the UK? 

Well, yes, for the UK online gambling industry it is excellent news, as it shows the industry is still developing and profiting. However, there have been estimates made by analysts that the UK Government has missed out on a whopping £2.1 billion in revenue since setting the tax rate at 15%, by effectively forcing UK based gaming companies out of the country.

Many companies, such as William Hill (who command a 15% share of the overall market), have since moved their operations offshore to take advantage of more flexible tax rates, which has meant a huge loss of revenue for the UK, in terms of corporation taxes, income tax and National Insurance payments to name but a few revenue sources. You can read an independant review of William Hill Casino here.

Ian Burke, the CEO of the Rank Group, has hit out at politicians in the UK who consistently take a derogatory view of the online casino and gambling industry, and was recently quoted as saying the politicians’ negative statements with regards to casinos are confusing for the public. Burke stated that the way people gamble has changed, and the heavy restrictions and responsibilities held by online gambling companies today mean people gamble responsibly and overall, simply for fun.

The poor relationship between the online gambling industry and UK government is now be being tackled head on, as there are currently discussing to reduce the tax rate to tempt back some of these big, profitable employers (see here for more). For the UK Government – who are currently under fire for public and social cuts being made – it seems that by adjusting their attitude to the strictly regulated world of online gambling they could easily boost their ailing coffers. By modernising their old fashioned attitudes to online gambling, and start seeing it as the thriving, profitable industry that it is, why shouldn’t the UK economy benefit from this amazing growth too?

What Has Happened at Virgin Games?

If you have logged onto your Virgin Games account today, you will have noticed all is not as it was, especially if you have a Virgin poker account! Branson’s gaming brand was officially migrated to the Gamesys platform earlier this morning, which means now the Virgin Games experience will be very different. But what does this mean to you, the player?

New Software = New Games

As Gamesys (who also own Jackpot Joy and Caesars Casino) create their own games which run off their own software, you will now have access to some different – and some say, much improved – casino games. Virgin Casino had previously used games provided by the well-established Playtech and Microgaming software providers, which means their games would have been very similar to other casinos using this software (such as 32 Red Casino).

Now, you will see brand new slot games and casino games, which are the newest and have the best graphics around! Admittedly, there are less games now – we estimate a reduction from around 300 to now about 30 – and some old favourites have gone, including the progressive jackpot slots.

Better Virgin Bingo

As you may expect from the people who made Jackpot Joy Bingo, what Gamesys don’t know about bingo isn’t worth knowing, and now Virgin Bingo has the potential to be one of the best bingo sites around – via a combination of the fantastic new lobby and Virgin’s distinctive branding and superb bingo community. Although there are fewer bingo rooms at the present time, the rooms which are open are busy and friendly – with some good sized jackpots.

No Virgin Poker Or Virgin Mobile

Whilst there have been welcome additions, there are also changes we are not so happy about. Virgin now no longer offers a poker client, which will be disappointing to their poker community, as Virgin was one of the few big name brands in the UK to use the Spielo G2 software. They also have removed their mobile casino, which is a big surprise considering Virgin’s CEO, Simon Burridge, stated in just 2012 that a third of all their registrations and a fifth of all their revenue was a result of their mobile client.

What About My Old Virgin Account?

Rest assured, if you had an old Virgin Games account, it is still there – simply log in as usual and you will find your old account there –including your V*Points balance, which will remain on the site.

If you had a Virgin Poker account, rest assured you can still use your account details to log in and claim your funds.

What If I Need Help? 

Virgin and Gamesys are both known for their excellent customer service, so if you have any issues at all, simply click on the Live Chat and an advisor will help you out. Plus of course, leave us a comment, and let us know what you think!

If you want to read more about the changes, including reviews of the new site, you can find the latest reviews over at Virgin Casino Review and Virgin Bingo Review on gamble.co.uk.