Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Online Casino Advisory - Online Gambling Is Not Recession Proof

Online Casino Advisory senior gaming analyst, Sherman Bradley, has released the findings of his new study that claim casinos online are not recession proof. http://www.onlinecasinoadvisory.com/

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) November 26, 2008 -- A long held belief that 'gambling is recession proof' was proven wrong this year as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Macau casinos all reported significantly declining numbers over the last two quarters. Another, newer belief, that 'online casinos are recession proof' has also been proven wrong following a month long study conducted by Online Casino Advisory's senior gaming analyst, Sherman Bradley.

Online Casino Advisory
Online Casino Advisory

but they are not playing or depositing nearly as much as they were.
The newer belief that 'online casinos are recession proof' stems from the theory that in tough times people turn to vices, and with the added expenditures of travel, hotels, food, and entertainment those people would not turn to Vegas type casinos, but instead turn to online forms of gambling. However, Bradley concluded in his loose study that the online casinos he analyzed have recently seen a major decline in player volume despite that theory.

"Players are still playing," Bradley said, "but they are not playing or depositing nearly as much as they were."

Some analysts believe there could be many culprits to the player volume demise, not having to do with the economy, such as the current state of online gambling in the United States. Recently, a major online casino software provider pulled out of the US market, which left only a few dozen online casinos that still cater to US citizens. However, Bradley believes this to be having no effect on the decrease in player volume.

"The online casinos that remain in the US market are actually seeing major player increases since Microgaming left," Bradley said. "However, players are not depositing higher amounts, and they are not depositing multiple times, as was the norm before the recession. Also, Microgaming casinos that still allow their US players who were already patrons with them to play, are also seeing the same trend."

Another theory for the decline is that it was caused by the recently enacted Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (the UIGEA), but Bradley claims this is not the reason either.

"The operators we spoke to are still seeing players deposit and they are not seeing any increase in the number of complaints from players who say their deposits were declined, the players simply aren't depositing as much as they were, and more than ever people are playing in fun mode," Bradley stated.

Bradley claims that a typical player deposits $25 to $50 now, and doesn't come back for another two weeks. This is different from before the recession when a typical player would deposit $100 to $200 in one sitting and come back within a couple weeks. Bradley also said the online casinos he spoke to reported fewer high rollers (players who deposit more than $1,000 in one sitting) playing with them.

"This tells me a couple things," Bradley concluded, "that online casinos are not these evil, addiction wielding devices that destroy lives. To me, this is proof that people only spend what they can afford on this form of entertainment, and that they can certainly control themselves on the Internet. It also tells me that gambling in any form, is not recession proof."

Online casinos were the only part of Bradley's study. He did not analyze online bingo, poker, or sportsbooks. The study consisted of analyzing unofficial stats of certain online casinos, as well as interviewing a few online casino operators. Bradley believes he studied and interviewed enough online casinos to make semi-blanket statements across the industry, but he is quick to point out that his study was unscientific.

About Online Casino Advisory
Online Casino Advisory is an independent reviewer of online gaming sites and a leading reporter of online and land based casino news. The site specializes in sending out 'Advisories' when an advisory is merited. The online company first made its mark by offering full sized free casino games that could be played without interruption on their flash platform. The addition of Sherman Bradley to their team led to the official Boycott of Kentucky following a state seizure of 141 online gambling domain names.

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