The global gambling industry is one of the most thriving among other stocks. World gambling statistics show that around 26 percent of the population try their luck in games of chance. If we present these statistics in numbers rather than percentages, we will see more clearly how staggeringly large is the number of people who gamble: 1.6 billion people worldwide try to win a fortune in a game.
More than 4.2 billion people gamble at least once a year. When so many people turn to casinos in the hope of becoming rich, it is little wonder that the gambling industry is on the rise. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, when all industries are in decline, casinos are making a positive impact on the economy.
The gambling industry is faring better during the coronavirus than, say, the cruise ship and the airline industries because it has an online business. People, in general, prefer gambling from their homes, and in the quarantine, when they do not have an option to gamble in brick-and-mortar casinos, they resort to online gambling with increased enthusiasm. In Finland alone, Veikkaus, the state-owned gambling monopoly, has welcomed more than 3,000 new customers to its online casino during the national lockdown.
In addition to Veikkaus gambling website, which attracts 700,000 gamblers a week, Finns have been flocking to fast casinos, called in Finnish “pikakasinot,” because there they can start wagering instantaneously, without filling out an application form. In other countries, the number of people betting online is equally high. In the United Kingdom, more than 17 percent of the population wager at digital casinos, which in 2019 resulted in £5.3 billion in revenue for the online market alone.
The majority of people who gamble either in land-based betting houses or at digital casino websites are drawn to slot machines. Slot machine games are classified as luck-based rather than as skilled-based, like poker, chess, or backgammon, and, therefore, attract many people believing in their lucky star.
Casinos capitalize on players’ partiality to slot machines and plugin as many of them as their premises allow. WinStar World Casino and Resort in Oklahoma contains the largest number of slots, inviting gamblers to play on 7,471 machines. In Finland, people’s fondness for slot machines is so strong that the Finnish government has placed them nearly in every store, gas station, kiosk, café shop, and restaurant. There are about 20,000 slot machines scattered around the country.
The choice of slot machines games at online casinos is even more impressive. Finnish gamblers started enjoying a particularly large arsenal of games after Veikkaus had signed an agreement with Yggdrasil, the famous supplier of innovative game solutions. The deal has allowed Finns to play such popular games as Hanzo’s Dojo, Wolf Hunters, Lilith’s Inferno, Golden Chip Roulette, Penguin City, and a trilogy of Vikings.
Vikings Go Wild, Vikings Go Berzerk, and Vikings Go to Hell are highly popular with Finnish players because they are based on Norse mythology and invite them to participate in the dark and gripping adventures of their ancestors. Many of Yggdrasil’s games contain in-game promotional tools, such as Boost. It allows providers to run promotions from within the game client and offers them various cross-sell opportunities.
Online gambling operators also give lucrative bonuses to players of slots, nonexistent in land-based casinos. Casino Helsinki does not dish out any bonuses to newcomers. Digital casinos such as King Billy or Sons of Slots, by contrast, offer new customers a welcome bonus, after they have deposited a specified amount for the first time.
The majority of virtual casinos give from 100 percent to 200 percent of the welcome bonus on gamblers’ first deposit, though other casinos are more open-handed. King Billy allows Finnish customers to get a doubled first deposit up to €500, whereas Sons of Slots give them €400. Other bonuses abound. When they play slots online, Finns also receive free spins bonuses, no deposit bonuses, and reload bonuses, all of which make their gambling more entertaining and profitable.
It is difficult to know what are the odds of hitting it big on slot machines. Experts say that the probability of getting three symbols in a raw on a slot machine is about 0.001 percent. This number is truly infinitesimal, but because some individuals do manage to strike gold on slot machines, players continue taking a chance on them.
