The slow down of the economy in country after country is hitting gaming centers around the world. Atlantic City and Las Vegas have felt the hit on discretionary spending in a big way, as their revenues are reported to be way off from previous years. In the thirties when a similar slowdown or recession was in full swing, the racetracks in the US enjoyed their best years of all time. It may have helped that race betting was one of the few legal betting venues at that time.

Now, in the current situation, there are many betting outlets for players, gamblers and people looking for relief from the economic worry that is hitting each family. And yet, online gaming sites are not being hit as hard as the live gaming sites. It takes little money to go online and gamble. There is no car expense, no room charges and no time away from home. The exception to this slow down in gaming is bingo around the world, especially those sites online that offer bingo. Some of the live halls are feeling a pinch and letting staff go to tighten the belt so to speak. But online the story is far different from the real world of gaming. The expense to run an online gaming operation is far lower than that felt by a live casino or bingo hall. The sites are run by tireless computers and with far few people or equipment needs. Online gaming is set up to handle the player signups with little regard to the number of playing customers. In a live casino the house must staff for the increase or decrease in player count. Not so in online gaming. The computers handle the amount of player flow with little added expense. The only obvious change that is seen in online bingo sites is the rapid growth of online sites and the fierce competition for the new players. This accounts for the increases in signup bonuses and the addition of special games on certain days of the week. It also accounts for the price change of game cards, as they are reduced in price at many online casinos. The player count at the better bingo sites is not only withstanding the slowdown in the economy, but in some cases the count is increasing each month.
Bingo is a passion in the UK and online sites enjoy a huge advantage over live sites. So while the live bingo halls are struggling in the UK due to the economy and the new tax, the online sites are prospering in this difficult economic period. The price changes in game cards is more than made up by the increase in player traffic and the better special games that are now being offered to attract more play from players. This is the one gaming area that looks like what happened in the thirties to the racetracks as people are in need of a diversion and the possibility of winning some needed new money. So as usual in the real world history repeats itself again.