Online gambling soars - Mobile gambling set to follow

The results of a study by consultancy firm Morse suggested almost one-third (30%) of office workers had either placed a bet online or knew someone who had. Online gambling at work costs firms in England more than £300m each year in lost productivity. The survey results came from interviews with 664 office workers across the UK.

A consultant at Morse, Philip Wicks, said: "Many employees have unmonitored access to the internet, and the fact that they can now follow most sporting events online, coupled with the rise of Internet gambling websites, has tempted people to place a 'quick bet' online. However, these bets all add up, and can greatly impact businesses productivity."

And another report commissioned by analyst house Juniper Research, suggests that despite a war on web gambling raging in some parts of the world, mobile gambling is set to enjoy growth for some years to come. From its findings, Juniper forecasts that stakes gambled on mobiles will reach $16.6bn globally by 2011 - up from $1.35bn last year, despite cutbacks in the forecast for the North American region.

Juniper believes for the next two years Europeans will be the biggest gamblers, in terms of spend, but the region will be overtaken in 2008 by Asia Pacific, who they predict are set to spend $6.7bn by 2011.