Online gambling to blame for collapse of land-based casinos

Naturally, the global economic crisis has played its part in drying up live gaming, but Mintel’s study has also revealed that a growing migration of players from land-based casinos to their online counterparts is partly to blame.

Mintel’s report concluded that the total number of American’s who claimed to have visited a land-based casino in 2009 is now less than 5% of the previous year’s figure – with approximately 27% of players visiting casinos at Indian reservations, 24% in Las Vegas, 12% in Atlantic City and the rest being a mix of locations.

However, while the numbers for land-based casinos have dipped significantly, the amount of people visiting online casinos and poker rooms last year shot up to the point that 12% of the American population now claim to have visited a site in the past year, despite legal complications brought about by the UIGEA laws in the country.

The study speculated that the reasons that many gamblers are moving away from land-based casinos may centre on the advancement of HD monitors, video-gaming technology and the internet and general improvements to the online gaming industry.