Growth sectors in the gaming and gambling industry, such as online poker and betting

exchanges, are fast maturing and with the complexity of gambling legislation the search is on for other as yet undiscovered and unpolished gems. According to many experts, the next great growth spurt destined for the Internet is casual gaming among them skill gaming, Bingo and fantasy sports.

Studies conducted among more than 60 industry experts offered their unique insights and assessments. Among key findings were the following insights:

-The experts estimate the current market size for casual gaming and gambling (skill gaming and online bingo) to be about USD 500 million with more than 8 million regular players playing for cash.

-The casual gaming and gambling market is expected to grow to USD 1 billion by 2010 but could far exceed that as broadband becomes easily available.

-Casual gaming is an attractive product option for state lotteries and private operators

-One of the reasons for the growing relevance of the casual gaming sector is that regulations and laws regarding gambling are getting more and more complex and are forcing state lotteries as well as private companies to look for alternative products to their traditional gambling offerings.

-The number of investors in the casual gaming industry is growing. Almost every week high-caliber companies, such as media giants Liberty and Burda, as well as private equity companies, such as Apax, are pouring investment into the casual gaming sector.

-The evaluation of relevant casual gaming sites showed that the number of games offered varies widely, that customer service/support is in some cases not satisfactory, and that only very few sites offer languages other than English.

-Europe will be the most important region for future growth, according to 91% of the experts.

Judging from the research statistics and combined with the visible growth of the casual gaming sector it is reasonable to deduce that this is a marketing trend that should not be missed. In a future article I will be alluding to the age and gender demographics. As a teaser I will say that the results will shock you. 45% of casual gamers are women between the ages of 30 and 45 years old. Now how about that for a heads up?