Conclusive data released by H2 Gambling Capital revealing industry growth trends in 2010 online gambling shows that the industry as a whole grew by 12.5% throughout last year. This uptrend has continued for the past few years despite the global economic recession.

e-gaming wins in total equaled nearly $29.95 billion in 2010. Granted some of the influx is due to the largest sporting event in the world, the 2010 World Cup that took place in South Africa, but that only counted for 1.5% of the 12.5% increase.

The highest growth was in online casino and bingo, bingo showing explosive progress with industry wins up 28.4% at a total of $2.67 billion. Casino advancement showed a $6.24 billion total from 2010, 13.3% up from the previous year.

Sports betting is still the biggest sector on Internet gambling, showing a double-digit growth, taking in $12.06 billion, up 10.8% from 2009.

The slowest progression was in online poker, though it did come up with $5.06 billion in profits, up 7.1% from 2009, but this number is not expected to continue to climb due to aggressive bonus offered by large poker rooms. This growth was however effected by the development of Italian and French poker markets. Without their impact on the industry, poker revenues would have decreased from the previous year, according to H2.

The report also revealed info on the overall size of the Internet gambling realm. At the year’s end there were 2,400 worldwide real money online gambling sites, a number that shows a drop of around 160 from 2009 year’s end. Further consolidation is projected as the industry continues to develop. In general, though, the industry as a whole does seem to be fairly healthy and sustainable. H2 predicted a “low double-digit growth” is a solid possibility for the years to come, so long as the major European players (i.e. Denmark, Spain, and Belgium) continue to enter the regulation trend. Furthermore, mobile gambling is expected to continue to rise in popularity as a portal to wager online with real money, especially as smart phones become more widely used.

written by Haylie