TREND: Online gambling sites expect big payoffs - 02/15/05

"After years of escalating growth, it's poised for its biggest year. That reflects a growing obsession with poker, advances in broadband and wireless technology, and the temptation to strike it rich from a PC. More than 2,000 gambling Web sites this year will rake in nearly $10 billion in revenue, most from U.S. consumers. That's up 40 percent from 2004. That makes gambling one of the Net's largest moneymakers, although it is illegal. Poker revenue is expected to double to more than $2 billion and attract 1 million players a month. Americans play at 266 Web sites, up from 53 in June 2003, says gaming site CasinoCity ( www.casinocity.com)."

[Detroit News]