Daily News: Online casino traffic grew in the world grew by 25%

Online casino attendance increased by 25% in March

The audience of online casinos has increased due to the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, and the associated self-isolation of people. It is estimated that casino traffic increased by 20-25%.

The total number of bets has doubled but the average bet size decreased. Experts believe that the main reason for the growth of the online casino audience is a self-isolation of people and the associated sharp increase in the popularity of interactive entertainment. The closure of gambling zones and land-based establishments affected as well. Finally, the total number of gamblers was supplemented by clients of bookmakers which suffered reducing the number of bets due to the cancellation of most sports events.

“The number of online casino users increased at the very beginning of the pandemic, when Macau closed. Some casino hotels have turned into hospitals. Clients of gambling zones are used to make bets, and under quarantine terms, they begin to play online,” the experts said.

Statistics of queries in search systems according to which in March, Internet users searched for online casinos twice as frequently as in the same period last year, indicates the growth in popularity of online casinos as well.

Parimatch launches legal online casino in Belarus

The Parimatch bookmaker holding plans to launch a legal online casino in Belarus. Belarusian players will get access to the site in April 2020.

Associate Director of Parimatch Julia Leshkova said that online casino was working in test mode. The official launch of the casino is scheduled for the next few days. The company operates in Belarus on the basis of a license issued in February 2020. About $1 million was spent on the project development.

The representatives of the company noted that the Belarusian online casino Parimatch would be ready to accept players from Russia if legislative changes are made in the Russian Federation.

Parimatch is a well-known bookmaker which officially provides its services in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The brand actively develops. Parimatch casino has been operating in the .com domain zone since 2015, under the license of Curacao. Entering the Belarusian online gambling market became possible after the adoption of the law on the legalization of online casinos in Belarus in 2018.

Online casinos in Belgium were obliged to return money to their customers

The Belgian Gambling Commission (BGC) has set a weekly limit on losses at online casinos. Gamblers from Belgium can't lose more than 500 EUR per week in online gambling from now. The changes are associated with a sharp increase in the popularity of online casinos against the backdrop of self-isolation due to the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, the regulator is trying to protect the Belgians from major financial losses.

The rule has become obligatory for all sites with a BGC license. The Commission requested the gamblers to remain vigilant and inform the organization of situations if operators violate new rules. It is reported that in such cases the casino will be fined and obliged to return the funds spent in excess of the declared limit to the player.

Also, representatives of the Belgian Gambling Commission reminded gambling fans that they have the right to limit their own expenses on bets by setting limits on the casino website.