Recent data indicates that the traditional land casino is in dire straits around the world.  The current economic recession has brought the land casino industry to its knees.  It was only a few short years ago that people could not find an open slot machine terminal in the land casinos on weekends.  People were spending huge amounts of their money on expensive casino junkets to such casino hot spots as Las Vegas, the Caribbean Islands and the banks of the Mediterranean.

Once you arrived at these casino towns, there were significant expenditures.  Transportation, food, and entertainment were only three services that dug deep into the cost of a casino junket.  Additionally, the casino payoffs were no bargain, averaging about 93 percent, so players rarely became rich on these trips.

Well, the economic recession ended the dreams for many individuals who had considerable sums of money invested in the market.  These people no longer have funds available to turn to, if they should fall upon financially hard times.  So, people have had to make hard decisions regarding recreational expenditures from their discretionary income funds. 

 Most people who enjoy casino games have decided that junkets to land-based casinos are superfluous and that online gambling easily replaces trips to land casinos for   recreational enjoyment.  Online gambling offers players the same excellent choice of casino games, and players get better payout percentages when they engage in online casino gambling.

In 2009, online gambling thrived in many European markets.  One of the countries that showed the greatest increase in online gambling was Italy.  It seems that the Italian adult population is infatuated with poker.  Italians enjoy watching poker tournaments on television, and this interest has carried over into the online casino gambling genre.

As attendance and gambling in traditional land-based casinos continues to dwindle, online casino gambling websites are "Johnny on the spot" ready to fill in the recreational opportunities for gamblers.  The year of 2010 will be critical to the online gambling industry, and all eyes are on the United States as well as some European countries as the online gambling industry looks to augment its resources.