The French have taken to online gambling like a duck a l'orange to water, according to Europe-wide figures from analysts Nielsen//NetRatings. February's numbers showed that more than 22 per cent of those online spent over an hour betting. This was about three times the average UK online gambler spent having a flutter. The French can also boast of nearly twice as many sessions as their UK counterparts.
That's not to say we aren't committed. More than 14 per cent of online Brits gamble on the Internet - a rise of 45 per cent year on year.
But one French reader has pointed out that there is another factor driving online gambling in France. 'In France, the only legal betting is through state controlled channels, which are PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain) for horse races, Lotto, National Lottery ... Casinos and gambing machines are only allowed in some towns that have a special status ... anything else is stricly illegal,' he says. '[But] the European Union, since the Maastricht Treaty, creates a loophole, since betting is legal in UK. French residents can therefore bet using the Internet, while they cannot do it otherwise.' Clearly the French are embracing their new found freedom.
In the UK, it is the State approved channels we find most tempting, with 1.3mn of us playing the National Lottery online.
One might think that broadband is the driving force behind the surge, but this is not necessarily the case. It may be simply a coming of age for the activity, as online gambling hits its stride as a mainstream hobby.
Certainly France enjoys a massive adoption of broadband: some 85 per cent of surfers hooked up to a gambling site over a fast connection. Yet the second-most prolific gambling nation is Sweden, which seems less concerned about connection speeds: just 56 per cent logged on over a high speed link.
At the other end of the scale, Spain - being the least likely to gamble - favours broadband, with four in five visiting these sites at high speed.
UK gamblers also appear to lack the patience for dial-up with 75 per cent using a broadband connection.
If the uptake of online betting continues in the UK, we will overtake the US in terms of the percentage of browsers that gamble.
But with nearly 20mn US betters, we have a long way to go before we catch them. In comparison, Europe boasts a figure of 14mn.
pcpro.co.uk
That's not to say we aren't committed. More than 14 per cent of online Brits gamble on the Internet - a rise of 45 per cent year on year.
But one French reader has pointed out that there is another factor driving online gambling in France. 'In France, the only legal betting is through state controlled channels, which are PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain) for horse races, Lotto, National Lottery ... Casinos and gambing machines are only allowed in some towns that have a special status ... anything else is stricly illegal,' he says. '[But] the European Union, since the Maastricht Treaty, creates a loophole, since betting is legal in UK. French residents can therefore bet using the Internet, while they cannot do it otherwise.' Clearly the French are embracing their new found freedom.
In the UK, it is the State approved channels we find most tempting, with 1.3mn of us playing the National Lottery online.
One might think that broadband is the driving force behind the surge, but this is not necessarily the case. It may be simply a coming of age for the activity, as online gambling hits its stride as a mainstream hobby.
Certainly France enjoys a massive adoption of broadband: some 85 per cent of surfers hooked up to a gambling site over a fast connection. Yet the second-most prolific gambling nation is Sweden, which seems less concerned about connection speeds: just 56 per cent logged on over a high speed link.
At the other end of the scale, Spain - being the least likely to gamble - favours broadband, with four in five visiting these sites at high speed.
UK gamblers also appear to lack the patience for dial-up with 75 per cent using a broadband connection.
If the uptake of online betting continues in the UK, we will overtake the US in terms of the percentage of browsers that gamble.
But with nearly 20mn US betters, we have a long way to go before we catch them. In comparison, Europe boasts a figure of 14mn.
pcpro.co.uk
