Online gambling 1

[Guest Wikipedia]

Online gambling (or Internet gambling) includes poker, casinos and sports betting. The first online casino was in 1994. Many countries restrict or ban online gambling, but it is legal in some states in the United States, some provinces in Canada, most countries of the European Union and several nations in the Caribbean.

The Internet has allowed new types of gambling to be available on line. Improvements in technology have changed betting habits just as video lottery terminals, keno and scratchcards changed the gambling industry in the 20th century.

Gambling has become one of the most popular and lucrative businesses on the Internet. In 2007 the UK Gambling Commission stated that the gambling industry had achieved a turnover of over £84 billion. This is partly due to the wide range of gambling options available to many different types of people. An article by Darren R. Christensen, Nicki A. Dowling, Alun C. Jackson and Shane A. Thomas said that a survey recorded in Australia showed that the most common forms of gambling were lotteries (46.5%), keno (24.3%), instant scratch tickets (24.3%), and electronic gaming machines (20.5%).

Poker
Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz, HORSE (which is a multi-game form of poker commonly played at the high-stakes tables of casinos and in tournaments) and other game types in both tournament and Cash 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 because 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 seventeen 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 ten television advertisements featuring Scottish comedian Billy Connolly and one of the largest ever poster campaigns. The new brand and name had the slogan: "Don't live a little, live a Lotto".

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