GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 6 - September 2008

By the Numbers 10 GPWA Times | BY THE NUMBERS 6.1% The percentage increase the Norwegian online gambling industry experienced in the last year, according to the Norwegian Gambling Commission. 10% The percentage decline inpokerprofits888.com suffered from the first quarter of 2008 to the second quarter. The company said the fall was “driven by seasonality and the impact of the Euro 2008 football tournament.” 12.6% The percentage increase in poker revenues for Swedish State-owned gaming operator Svenska Spel in the first six months of 2008 as compared to last year. Casino revenues reported a 9.6 percent increase. 50% The percentage William Hill expects its Internet sports betting gross to increase following the launch of its new software platform. $1.8 billion The amount of non- Internet gambling revenues in South Africa last year, according to the nation’s National Gambling Board. In May, the Parliament agreed to legalize online gambling. € 5 billion The amount that research firm Forsa expects the German betting market will grow to by the year 2010. The current market is €2.2 billion annually. $34.1 billion The amount lost by gamblers at U.S. commercial casinos in 2007, a 73% increase from 10 years earlier. 68% The percentage of U.K. adults who participated in some form of gambling activity in 2007. That number drops to 48% when the National Lottery Draw is excluded as a gambling activity. 80% The percentage of problem gamblers in the U.K. who bet on horses in 2007, according to a NatCen survey. 139% The increase in sales the Public Lottery Organization of the Mexican Federal Government saw in 2007 after increasing the amount of scratch card games available from six to 20. The organization will introduce a new online version of the popular Mexican scratch-card game Raspaditos this year. $42.4 million The revenue Playtech reported for the second quarter of 2008, a 75% increase compared to the same period last year. 253 million The number of Internet users in China during the month of June, according to the China Internet Network Information Center, helping the nation overtake the U.S. as the world’s biggest Internet market.