More Britons than ever are trying their hand at online gambling despite the worsening economic climate.
The results of an extensive survey by the UK Gambling Commission released this week shows that the quality of online gaming sites and the prizes on offer continue to attract players here.
Conducted by ICM Research the survey dealt with last year (including the final quarter of the year when recession loomed) and found an increase in the amount of people who say they'd used one remote form of gambling or another.
The news will come as a major boost to the online gambling sector here as it prepares for a testing year.
The Commission's study revealed that 9.7 percent of the 8,000 adults surveyed had gambled using a computer, mobile phone or interactive/digital television over the last month. This compares with 8.8 percent for 2007 and 7.2 percent for 2006.
The 0.9 percent rise was largely explained by increased online participation in the National Lottery according to the commission. It stated that the percentage of people gambling remotely drops to 5.6 percent if those only playing National Lottery games remotely are excluded. This figure compares to 5.2 percent over 2007 and 5.1 percent for 2006 but still represents a significant increase for the online gambling sector here.
Placing a wager on the outcome of a sporting event or playing a National Lottery scratch card was the second most prevalent activity engaged in remotely according to the survey at 2.4 percent followed by poker and 'all other lotteries' at 1.7 percent.
Just over one percent of respondents had played bingo remotely in the last month while all other activities accounted for one percent or less. The survey showed that those participating in remote gambling remain more likely to be male than female and aged 18 to 44.
Crucially for the online gaming sector using a computer, laptop or handheld device was the most popular mode of remote gambling at 7.8 percent. This was followed by gambling via a mobile phone at 2.9 percent and interactive/digital television at 2.1 percent.
Continuing to buck the trend then the online gambling industry in the
