We have been reporting the dramatic rise in popularity of social online casino games amongst Facebook users. It is getting clearer by the day that millions look to online gambling like scratch cards as a great way to entertain themselves. The thrill of scratching and winning online at your leisure and winning massive scratchcard jackpots is tempting to many.

One of the leading media technology reporting companies, Venture Beat recently released a report from research analytics firm Kontangent which proved once again the ever rising popularity of free-to-play online social casino games.

In the report released it was reveled that social casino players make up over 13% of Facebook’s overall players which is an increase from the 8% in 2011 and 6% in 2010. Games like Zynga Poker have enjoyed large popularity since its launch in 2007 and has become the second most popular game on Facebook.

It is no secret that as reported social casino gaming companies like Zynga have set their target on converting their existing loyal player base of free-to-play players to real money casino players when the legal situation in the U.S. is clarified regarding online gambling.

Social gambling formats like scratchcards have great potential to take off in the United States. Difficult economic times make the affordable scratch card the ideal gateway to jackpot wins without laying out loads of cash.

The report however pointed out some up and coming new players to watch that included a group of casino games like that of Double Down Casino that is now the fourth most popular game in Facebook and it was only launched in 2010.

The beauty about online scratchcards is that they also have the ability to provide casino based themed games that let traditional casino fans play a scratchie that has the feel of a traditional casino game like poker or blackjack.

Social casino games are on the rise and have proven to be massive revenue generators as they boast an overall 40% higher increase of average revenue per user spent compared to other social games.

Social gaming participants make up about 780 million users with over 98 million being active players from social casino games. It is worth noting that the among the top 10 grossing iPhone apps in the U.S, three are casino games namely, Texas Poker, Poker by Zynga and Slotomania.

According to casino games expert at Kontagent David Gutierrez, data is showing that growth among traditional social games is slowing down while social casino games are generating seven times higher revenues than the casual game category.

There is no doubting that social casino games are on the rise and like scratchcards the appeal of playing a gambling format in a friendly and welcoming environment is just what many people are looking for.