Really, How Many E-betting Sites Are There?
The number of online gambling sites has grown by 80 percent in just one year, reports employee Internet management company Websense Inc. "There are more than 31,000 (gambling) sites on the Internet," explained spokesman Phil Hill. "This number includes the various avenues available to get to these sites. Not counting the various domains, sub-domains and other information, there are about 5,000 separate gambling sites on the Internet." Websense's figures, however, don't take in account affiliate sites and similar arrangements, Hill acknowledged.
The River City Group, in its Wagering on the Internet 2000 report, whittled the various links, domains, portal sites and affiliate sites to determine that there are actually about 1,400 actual e-betting sites (as of December 2000).
"We track the online gambling category very carefully for our customers," added Chief Technology Officer Harold Kester. "Many of our clients, including nearly half of the Fortune 500, are becoming increasingly aware of the productivity and legal issues surrounding online gambling at work." Based upon research that shows 67 percent of all Internet access occurs at work, companies are concerned that their employees are gambling on company time. Further, Websense found that 1 million people regularly gamble online, while 1 to 4 percent of these gamblers are considered pathological gamblers.
Aussies Love to Gamble
Volta Publishing cites government research showing yet again that Australians are avid gamblers. How much do they gamble? Australia has a population of 19 million, of which about 80 percent gamble at least one time a year. Forty percent are regular gamblers. Further, 290,000 Australians are considered problem gamblers.
Korean Casino Checks out Foreigners' Habits
A 28-question survey of dealers and managers at Seoul's largest land-based casino, which is open only to non-Koreans, covers topics ranging from players' attitudes toward the casino staff to betting habits and even tipping tendencies.
"It is important to understand the dispositions of diverse nationalities in order to establish an effective marketing strategy for a foreign casino," Kim Seoung-sup, who led the study through Sejong University, told The Korea Herald. "We can thus better serve foreigners from various countries by accommodating facilities that meet their needs."
Among the findings: Westerners, including Americans and Europeans, tend to try challenging new games, while those from Japan are more interested in obtaining a thorough explanation of the rules. Once Japanese gamblers understand the rules, they readily follow the dealer's instructions. Other Asian gamblers, however, are less cooperative, especially Chinese players and Koreans living overseas.
Western, Japanese, and Korean players displayed a tendency to gamble by themselves, while Chinese, Filipino and Thai gamblers are more likely to play with others or watch as others gamble, the report said. Further, Chinese patrons frequently travel in groups of three or more and are more likely to cause some kind of commotion. Japanese patrons, in comparison, are the least likely to make trouble.
Players' attitudes toward the staff and the casino's security systems are widely divergent. The most suspicious players, who appear to trust casino staffers the least, tend to be from China, the Philippines and Thailand. This group of players is also inclined to recount chips given by dealers as well as any money that's exchanged from another currency.
Internet Surfing Gets Faster and Faster
For Americans wanting to get online, getting there fast is important. Nearly one-third of American surfers access the Web via broadband at home, work or school, according to a study conducted jointly by Arbitron Inc. and media research firm Coleman. The report indicates that 64 percent of these Americans use broadband at work, while 37 percent use broadband to access the Internet at home.
Two in Five Irish Use Internet
Residents of Ireland are ponying up for Internet services, according to a Global eCommerce Report 2001 just released by British research firm TNS Interactive. Of the 18 nations surveyed for the report, Ireland is shown to have the fourth largest proportion of Internet users. Two in five residents regularly use the Internet, while one in 14 go online to make a purchase, the report said. The group of Irish residents that head online can be broken down even more: Forty-five percent of all men and 33 percent of women in Ireland have headed to the World Wide Web.