Bingo, Betting and More Played Across Europe

When you think of gambling in Europe, the classic image is likely the traditional, high-end casinos of Monte Carlo, glamourised by Hollywood by the likes of James Bond. The reality is that these casinos only account for a fraction of the entire European betting market, and an average person with a smartphone is likely to be the most common player.

The range of games in online casinos will be surprising to some. Despite gambling being one of the oldest institutions in the world, the selection is still growing today.

What are the most common types of gambling?

Much of what people would expect as 'standard' gambling options can now be found completely within single sites. The larger the site, naturally the wider the selection, so on sites like the well-known Paddy Power, for instance, players can try their hand at card games, wheel games, slots, bingo, live game shows and more besides.

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Each of these has multiple variants thanks to modern technology, so players can try multiple forms of blackjack or perhaps Slingo at Paddy Power, a hybrid game with elements from both slots and bingo, where players spin 5 reels to cross off numbers on a bingo card with a number of special symbols and powers depending on the exact game. This setup of a wide variety of games and variants has become the standard for online betting sites.

What unique betting options are there?

As technology marches onwards, so too does the potential for new betting markets, and the two sectors growing rapidly on the betting front right now are crypto and eSports:

The crypto betting market

Whether it's the future of global currency or just a passing fad, there's no denying that cryptocurrency has exploded in popularity over the last few years. It's no surprise that the online gaming industry, or iGaming as it's commonly known, has been quick to adopt it.

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Most online casinos will now accept common forms of crypto such as Bitcoin and Litecoin, and the numbers speak for themselves on their success; the amount bet in crypto over the last year has more than doubled according to leading crypto gaming expert SOFTSWISS. 

It has reached a point where entire casinos are centred around only having deposits and withdrawals in crypto, and even event prizes consisting entirely of coins.

The eSports betting market

As markets go, eSports is quite niche, however with the recent recognition of esports as being an Olympic-worthy event by the IOC, its legitimacy is starting to go through the roof. As with crypto, the iGaming world has quickly adapted, and you can now find betting on League of Legends or Call of Duty listed alongside football, tennis or any other major sport.

Similarly, there are also entire sites where eSports betting is the sole focus, and they have the unique ability to offer super-specialist odds on games, based on the unique properties of each title such as damage per second, assists, weapon loadouts and more

So what's next?

The simple fact is, no one can be 100% certain what the next big betting trend will be, but it's definitely a 'when' more than an 'if'.

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