The results of the largest ever online casino survey of its kind, polling over 10,000 gamblers from around the world, will be released on January 23. The occasion at which it will occur is the third annual online casino industry exhibition, the International Casino Exhibition (ICA). The surveying company is the much respected, non-profit online casino watchdog, eCOGRA (e-Commerce Online Gambling Regulation and Assurance), which has influenced the industry with its gambling regulation efforts for several years.
The survey results have yet to be released, but the study team, which includes eCOGRA personnel as well as academic teams from English and American universities, has promised surprises. The questions focused on players, gamblers and all users of online casino sites and their end of the gambling relationship. It covers such player-oriented aspects of gaming, including their preferences and concerns when it comes to online casinos.
But what about the larger implications of the survey, which are sure to follow? Other than the effect it will have on the online casino sites themselves - new features, game versions and friendly interfaces as dictated by the gamblers' responses - it might have in store some implications with regard to the laws that are being considered around the world in favor of regulating online casino gambling, or even banning it altogether.
The results may influence the governments and parliaments as they consider taking on the larger global phenomenon of online casino gambling. It may include some numbers and reveal such data that will change many people's perspectives of online casino gambling, including those in power to affect the law that will certainly be introduced sometime in 2007. It is certainly a development to keep an open eye on, as it may be the beginning of a new stage in the legal aspects of online casinos. Time will tell and we are all sure to listen closely. |
