Figures from a Gambling Commission survey show the numbers of people in the UK choosing to gamble online rather than in person is increasing year on year.
Online casino style games, such as NetEnt casino bonus, are proving ever popular, with the number of people choosing to gamble in this way soaring by over 20% in the period surveyed.
Gambling in person in a casino became much less widespread in this time, with rates falling by nearly a quarter from just over 68% to under 44%.
The exception to this online trend is bingo, where players seem to have been missing the traditions of the hall, the blotter pens and comical calls.
The game saw a 10% reported increase in gamblers playing person in person between September 2018 to September 2019.
This uptick is despite closures of bingo halls up and down the country which have been blamed on high taxes and the effects of the 2007 smoking ban.
An episode of BBC documentary Look North this week highlights the friendships and sense of community that attracts many to Bingo halls.
Kate, a regular bingo player who features in the programme, said: “We all certainly have a laugh and we talk to each to other.
“The way people have Facebook now, well that’s what we’re like in here, only we’re not on Facebook we’re talking to each other.
“Everybody knows me, I don’t know how, but everybody knows me. If I didn’t come to bingo I would see nobody from one day to the next. It’s just getting out of the house away from everything and coming and seeing your friends.”
Over 65s are the age group least likely to gamble, either online or in person, but even this demographic saw a slight rise (1.4%) in web-based gambling figures.
The number of 25-34 year-olds who took part in some form of gambling, not including playing the Lottery, rose to 42.1%, up 8% from the same demographic last year at 36.1%.
