Apart from size, population and influence on global politics, the United Kingdom, United States and Republic of Ireland are actually pretty similar. Sharing similar cultures, with plenty of emigration and immigration history, the pastimes of these nations aren’t too far removed from one another. Gambling is one such leisure activity that’s extremely prominent in all three.

Nations of gamblers

The United Kingdom has love affairs with bingo, visiting the bookmaker and now gambling online. Ireland is the world capital of horse racing and betting on Gaelic football, shinty and rugby is almost a weekly ritual. The US has huge casino bases in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, with many considering the former as the world’s Mecca for gambling. To say that betting isn’t a fundamental part of each nation’s culture would simply be incorrect.

There are however several differences between each country. In all, there are three distinct groups in each:

• Support gambling

• Oppose gambling

• Indifferent about gambling

However, in the US and Ireland, there appear to be more extreme reactions and opposition to gambling, with the UK being the most liberal - with government-controlled gambling and fairly relaxed laws when it comes to advertising. But it looks like this could be changing to match Ireland and the US, where gambling advertising is much more strictly regulated, with the battle against gambling addiction becoming a key objective for political parties.

The US is easily the outstanding of the three when it comes to exposure to gambling and regulation of the industry. Thanks to the federal nature of US politics, each state has its own laws regarding gambling. For instance, Nevada (home to Las Vegas) and New Jersey (where you’ll find Atlantic City) have very relaxed laws, including legal online gambling. Conversely, in states like Texas and Montana, lotteries and charity gambling events are the only legal ways to gamble. At the other end of the spectrum, in Utah, all forms of gambling are banned, giving a flavour of the conflicting emotions that gambling evokes in the US.

The opportunity for online

In the UK, the entire gambling industry is worth approximately £13.9 billion per year, contributing tax revenues of anywhere up to 50% per organisation - depending on size and turnover. Currently, this figure is split. Two-thirds of industry revenue comes from physical locations such as betting shops, casinos and bingo halls, whereas the other third is courtesy of online gambling. This figure is slowly shifting however, with online gambling slowly increasing its market share year-on-year as technology advances mean more gamblers can use their smartphones, tablets or computers to place bets.

In the UK, the online industry has allowed tech start-ups to become online giants, with over 100,000 jobs now found in the both online and physical gambling companies. With increasingly smarter technology available to create gaming experiences that replicate those usually found in physical gambling hotspots, several companies have been able to emerge as market leaders.

One example success story is online bingo. A recent report found that there has been a 19% participation increase in the game since 2016. And it’s no surprise, bingo has been adapted to make it perfect for online play. Online bingo has seen rapid growth since the late 2000s, this has been attributed to the fact that gameplay is much smoother and getting involved is far more convenient. Bingo is accessible via mobile and the spread of the 4G network has resulted in an increase in players, 77% of people playing on the go do so via mobile. The surge in the popularity of online bingo has also had a knock-on effect. Physical bingo hall owners are now seeing results, with further growth predicted into the 2020s. With a large number of Bingo providers operating online, it has become very competitive when targeting segments of this expanding market. Long established companies such as 888, who have a range of bingo brands, have chosen to specifically target audiences with online themes which players can personally relate to. For instance, 888 Ladies promotes a more fun and vibrant bingo community, whereas the Wink Bingo brand aims to appeal to a wider range of players with it’s cool, and fresh image. Such types of strategy are very familiar within the UK gambling industry and it is essential for companies to stand out from the crowd as a brand through evolving with the changing attitudes and perceptions of their audience.

Whether the popularity of online gambling can provide a blueprint for similar gaming companies in the US and Ireland remains to be seen.

Ireland catching up, while the US lags behind

Ireland is slowly recognising the benefits of this online growth, thanks to legislation in 2015 that made gambling online in Ireland legal. The split between physical gambling and online gambling seen in the UK has become apparent much quicker in Ireland, thanks to more adults than ever before having access to smart devices and the internet.

The US online gambling industry, however, pales in comparison. Online betting of all forms is limited to just four states:

• Delaware

• Nevada

• New Jersey

• Pennsylvania

Despite the workarounds available to gamblers in other locations, physical casinos still dominate the $137 billion industry. From the hyper-casinos on the East Coast and in Nevada, to the native casinos that operate on the ancestral grounds of tribal groups, gambling is often completely restricted to places that are away from densely populated areas. The big opportunity for the US is a unified gambling industry where the same laws apply nationwide. And they may have a present who could make it happen.

Donald Trump was a lot of things before he became President, but casino magnate is probably the standout job title when it comes to gambling. Owning major casinos in Atlantic City in the 1980s, Trump was once the number one figure (and eventually public enemy number one) in the gambling industry, with his vision to transform Atlantic City from ghost town to multi-billion-dollar resort. He may have failed, bankrupting each casino and leaving Atlantic City with hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, but it’s safe to say he has a vested interest in the gambling industry.

If the US were to adopt similar systems to those seen in the UK and Ireland, with regulated but relatively liberal approaches to gambling (especially online), then the tax revenue potential is quite astonishing, and way more impactful than what could ever be realised in Ireland or the in the UK. Again, the demand for online gambling has been proven by the insatiable appetite for sports betting seen with recent figures valuing the industry at around $150 billion, if laws across the country are relaxed. This all provides taxable revenue, which could start chipping away at both federal and national deficits.

Slow, but steady change

The difficulty with changes to the US industry - compared to the UK and Ireland - are currently exacerbated thanks to the political instability of the Trump presidency. The senate hasn’t taken such different stances on almost every political issue for a long time, which means getting any sort of agreement on issues like gambling is tough. The elephant in the room, however, is that the gambling industry is a ripe fruit ready to be picked. Those potential billions of dollars of tax revenue could start playing a part in decisions on legalised gambling across the US.

For the UK and Ireland, the rapid growth may continue. The financial benefits of online gambling have become an integral part in both nations’ economies, with many thriving companies operating out of UK and Ireland bases. The potential for harnessing those gains in the US means that decisions about its almost-inevitable expansion across the nation aren’t far away.