Online scratch cards sites are becoming more and more popular amongst Britons as a result of the challenging economic times in the United Kingdom.  Studies have shown that many people are turning to cheaper and more accessible forms of online gambling like that of scratch games.

Scratch cards are managing to fill an important gap in the online gambling market with their high payout rate and minimum cost. It has become essential for scratch card site operators to offer their players the chance to try their scratchgames in practice mode before laying out their hard earned cash.All the sites offer Free Scratchcards.

There is reason for British online gambling company 888 Holdings to celebrate as they reported an impressive 26% full-year revenue growth. They have reported a significant increase in customers gambling on their website and the positive trend is continuing in the current quarter of 2012.

Studies show that due to the difficult economic times in Britain, many people prefer to stay at home gamble online and watch TV. 888 Holdings operate 888 casino, bingo brands, poker and sport posted revenues of over $331 million which is a massive increase from $262 million in the previous year.

According to company reports it has over 10.6 million casino, sports real money and poker registered customer accounts as of December 31 2011.This represents a significant increase of 22% over the previous year.

All major scratch games sites realize that tin order to attract potential players they need to offer free no deposit sign up bonuses which make online scratch cards a viable and lucrative gambling alternative  even in these challenging economic times.

The current changes in the EU online gambling market and the opening up of the U.S. market means that there are many potentially lucrative prospects for online betting companies.

The global popularity of the scratch game format is bound to prove a major advantage in attracting global scratch card enthusiasts as there is little or no need to market the popular scratch card format.

In anticipation of the U.S. online gambling market opening up, Caesars Entertainment Corp signed an agreement to extend its UK software licensing agreement with 888 to the United States.

Other major players such as Bwin.party are also placing themselves to take advantage of the U.S. market opening up and it has partnerships in place with U.S. casino operators MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming to offer internet gambling if and when the legal issues are solved.

All these positive developments have translated in 888 shares more than doubling since their 52-week low last year and are currently trading at 57.25p on Monday on the London Stock Exchange.

The global economic turmoil is presenting many challenges to online gambling but at the same time scratchcards are ideally suited to benefit from online gamblers looking for cost effective and entertaining forms of gambling.

Scratch cards continue to reward millions with instant cash prizes and with scratchies starting at 10p it seems clear that the market will only continue to grow.