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Most online gambling observers may be all excited about the prospects of internet gambling in the United States but many industry experts say that most real industry growth will take place in Europe. Currently Europe shows the most potential for expansion in the near future. In 2009 online gambling operators in Europe reported a 44.9% increase in total gaming revenues. If those figures are combined with additional gaming increases during the last two years, the black Friday events earlier in the year and the US government’s continual waffling on online gambling Europe appears to be the ‘Best Emerging Market’ in 2012.

In Europe one of the main reasons for industry expansion are Europe’s acceptance of gambling as a legitimate entertainment option and most countries have a long history of legal gambling. In addition several EU states are liberalizing their internet gaming laws and are moving in the direction of regulation instead of prohibition. The UK currently has the world’s largest regulated internet gaming market and internet bingo is the largest sector of the British internet gaming industry. Several interesting statistics have emerged from European markets and here are a few;

In 2009 the global gambling industry was estimated at $355 billion (USD) and is expected to grow to $385 billion by the end of 2012.

Of the totals the European gaming industry accounted for €82 billion ($107,611,863,727.88 USD) in 2009 and experts say the figure will hit €90 billion by the end of this year. Europe will account for 30% of gaming market share by the end of 2012.

Licensed gambling in the UK, including online bingo, is expected to reach £10.0 billion ($15,718,833,201.03 USD) by year’s end.

In Italy licensed gaming will reach €21.3 billion by the end of the year.

Experts predict that licensed French gaming will hit €9.8 billion by year’s end.

Licensed Spanish gambling may generate more than €10.2 billion by year’s end despite high unemployment and an economy in a deep recession.

If legalization of internet gambling takes place on a state by state basis in the United States the European gaming market will easily outstrip the US market generating more revenues for gaming operators targeting European gamblers. The Italian gaming market has displayed rapid growth and may overtake British gaming markets this year. Italy began issuing licenses in 2010 and is now Europe’s largest market for online poker. While the US drags its heels regarding legalization Europe is moving ahead.

Facebook has had a profound effect on society as a whole. The popular social networking site has over 800 million users around the world. Users can communicate, set up fan pages, form groups, make new friends and play games on the popular site. Since Facebook has so many users and reaches so many demographics the potential of Facebook for advertisers can easily be seen. Last year Facebook reversed its position regarding advertising for online gambling. Online bingo operators were quick to take advantage of the shift in policy. In January Facebook and game developer Zynga announced plans to launch a new Facebook app and some in the internet bingo industry feel threatened.

Online bingo operators are concerned that Facebook will be able to use their massive user base to launch an advertising campaign for their own online bingo game brands. While online bingo companies must pay for advertising on Facebook an advertising campaign by Facebook would cost the company little giving Facebook what some see as an unfair advantage. In the UK over 50% of the population have Facebook accounts and bingo operators are justifiably nervous. In addition Facebook has access to millions of user profiles that could be easily used to target bingo players. One unnamed executive at one of the top online bingo brands expressed his concerns and stated “Around 50% of the UK has Facebook accounts; this provides them with a substantial base to jump start gambling operations. While online bingo sites do their best to target marketing campaigns at groups of people that MAY have an interest in bingo, such as TV advertising at key times, this is expensive and is only a broad match.”

The same executive also said that most online marketing is expensive and relies on users searching for specific keywords. The executive went on to say “Facebook, however, has the opportunity of advertising to its own users at no cost and can also search out all users that have the word bingo in their profiles.” He also said that Facebook has the potential to become one of the largest online bingo operators and poses a greater threat to UK bingo operators than the proposed remote gaming tax proposed by the UK government.

Some in the industry disagree and point out that internet bingo has the highest player retention rate of any sector of the remote gaming industry. Internet bingo operators have spent a lot of time and money building player loyalty and many say that it is unlikely that these players would suddenly shift to Facebook bingo.

One of the major effects of the global recession has been demands for increased productivity by employers everywhere. Workers are putting in longer hours for less pay and because of high unemployment most are happy to have a job. In many offices workers used to taking breaks are now finding that taking breaks is not welcome by their employer. At many offices in the UK many workers take unauthorized breaks to play online bingo and other games. As a result many offices now closely monitor internet use and employees found playing internet bingo are likely to be terminated or disciplined.

A study conducted by one internet bingo operator found that about 55% of all respondents said they had played internet bingo on company time. Many play on their smart phones to avoid detection by web monitoring by employers. Internet bingo is one of the most popular pastimes in the UK for women under 40 and most of the major internet bingo operators have launched their own smart phone applications. This enabled players to avoid using their employer’s computers to play their favorite game. Most employers frown on playing games at work and say that playing online games is detrimental to the whole economy.

One survey result that should be especially troubling for employers was the fact that a majority of the survey’s respondents admitted that instead or working they spent an hour every week playing internet bingo and other games while at work. For large corporations the accumulated hours spent playing online games could easily cost millions in lost productivity. One estimate by experts says that if every worker in the UK plays games for an hour every week over 57 million work hours are lost annually. Many employers view this as a tremendous waste of resources and say it could pose a problem for the economy as a whole.

There are other factors to take into account before laying all the blame on internet bingo players. Easy access to bingo sites make is hard for some workers to resist the temptation. Fortunately a majority of internet bingo players go to work every day and fulfill all of their employer’s expectations and save their bingo playing for non working hours. Most internet bingo players are smart enough to realize that internet bingo is an activity that must be saved for leisure time outside of the workplace. It is doubtful that internet bingo is having a dire effect on the economy and most players realize that there can be severe consequences for wasting company time.

In both the US and Canada charitable bingo organizations are feeling the pressure from competition by the casino industry. In Ontario Canada charitable bingo games have declined by two thirds and the number of charitable bingo games has plummeted. In the US charitable and church bingo games are also concerned by the rapid expansion of the casino industry which also offers bingo. In addition casino backed bingo halls are able to offer jackpots and prizes well in excess of those that charitable organizations are able to provide. Land based casinos typically provide players with free or reduced price drinks and food which in many cases cannot be provided by charitable bingo operators.

In Cape Girardeau Missouri charitable bingo providers are concerned about the possible location of a new casino in the city. Robert Basler who is president of the Clark Street Project a non profit group that operates Bingo World stated, “We have heard stories about how casinos up in St. Louis put the bingo halls out of business up there, but down here we just don’t know if that will happen. It’s very difficult for us to make an assessment.”Bingo World usually draws a crowd and on a recent Saturday night 800 bingo players showed up to try to win a bingo jackpot of $8,000. One bingo player Cheryl Cavanah of Princeton Kentucky has been driving to Bingo World every weekend for the last six months. She used to play at a bingo hall in Paducah Kentucky. Cavanah stated, “That bingo hall in Paducah holds 350, and it’s always full even with a casino just across the river.”

Some players have indicated that if a casino opens in Cape Girardeau they may split their business between the bingo hall and the new casino which has bingo operators concerned. Bingo World president Basler stated, “That bingo player only has so many dollars to spend. So if they spend some of those dollars at the casino, that leaves less for bingo.” Eight charitable organizations have bingo licenses and the organizations include such well known charity groups as Knights of Columbus Council 1111, Cape Girardeau Elks Lodge, Cape Girardeau Kiwanis Club, Cape Girardeau Optimist Clubs and many other schools and religious organizations that all operate out of Bingo World.

Many charitable organizations say that if they lose players to the new casino they may have to cut back on community projects that benefit many people in the area. Some believe that the effects of the new casino will be short term and that players will return to Bingo World once the novelty wears off. If the bingo hall does close there’s always online bingo which may be the way charities hold bingo games in the future.

Bingo has long been used for a wide variety of educational purposes. There are bingo games designed to teach almost any subject from foreign languages to math. Educational bingo games are now available for free online. Education experts have long known that the game of bingo is an effective teaching tool and have used bingo for decades.

In the UK bingo has been a very popular game since the 1960’s. Even the smallest hamlet has its own bingo hall and the bingo industry including online bingo, generates millions of pounds in revenue every year. The UK’s school behaviour czar, Sir Alan Steer, sees bingo as a solution to chaos in the classroom.

Misbehavior in the classroom has long been a problem on both sides of the Atlantic and educators have searched in vain for a solution for years. Sir Alan believes that discipline problems begin when students lose interest in their lessons. Bingo is seen as a way of maintaining concentration in the classroom.

A government report released in the UK recommends that students play bingo to foster positive behavior in the classroom. Sir Alan believes that playing bingo would help to engage disruptive students and produce positive behavior. Sir Alan stated, “Both teachers and pupils have the right to work in an orderly environment. Schools should aim for the highest possible standards of pupil behaviour.”

Although the report has been criticized in some quarters one major UK bingo provider has been providing teachers with material about the game of bingo. Possibly schools could use online bingo to teach computer skills. It will be interesting to see just how well this idea works.

With the invention of internet bingo comes the notorious response, ‘What in the hell is Cyber Bingo, and how do I download a cup of coffee with an automatic dauber?’ And just when you learn how to click a mouse and LOL at somebody’s joke in your chat room, along comes three eyed bingo.

‘Three eyed bingo, now what in the hell is three eyed bingo?’ Don’t fear, online bingo players, three eyed bingo is not a new technological advancement that will make it even harder for you to upload your bingo winnings. It’s just a new way to play the bingo you love on the Internet.

It doesn’t even have to be played as an online bingo game. The rules of the game can just as easily be used in your average bingo hall. All you need is three bingo cards, a caller and people willing to play.

The game starts with three bingo cards, but all three bingo cards are important to the game. It’s not a bingo game where each card has a chance to win. To win three eyed bingo you need to get a bingo on all three cards.

That’s the trick to this bingo game. You need to match the given pattern on all three of your bingo cards before you can call out bingo, or click the bingo button on the screen. See, it’s not some sci-fi bingo game that involves Captain Kirk as the caller and floating green three eyed aliens as the main attraction. It’s just plain old bingo, except you have to get it on three cards.

Three eyed bingo is just one of the many new forms of our favorite game popping up on the Internet. It gives bingo a new twist, makes it a little bit more exciting and suspenseful. It’s fun enough waiting for one card to fill up, but imagine waiting for three bingo cards moving you closer to the win. Now that’s enough to make anybodies circuits get excited.

It may be a version of bingo that you already played at your bingo hall, or it may be something new. Whatever it is don’t be afraid of what’s to come from online bingo. In the end it’s all just bingo.