Regulatory worries have been depressing the shares of online gambling companies in Germany for the last year, and these worries deepened last week after Germany's state governments revealed proposals to introduce a 16.7% turnover tax on online sports gambling, and to limit the provision of online casino and poker to those operators that held a land-based license.

This development was particularly bad news for the newly formed company Bwin Party Digital Entertainment, which currently generates between 27 and 30% of its earnings in Germany and saw its shares lose a third of their value on the announcement. Of course that weakness is assuming a worst-case scenario of the total loss of German earnings, and this is certainly not a guaranteed outcome as the state governments may soften their stance before the regulation becomes law at the end of this year.

The game of bingo is becoming increasingly popular as it has become more accessible to people around the world. There are free bingo games online, in which players from across the globe can compete for fun to pass their leisure time.

The free version of the bingo game is certainly a soft form of gambling as no money is put forward by participants. Even in the paid version of bingo, it is still considered a softer form of gambling as it is often associated with church halls and old ladies. More serious gambling games are often found in Las Vegas or in the sports betting centers, and bingo is very uncommon in these venues. For gamblers who want an alternative to the serious gambling circuits, then bingo can be a great option.

The online bingo games are very easy to access and play. Since they are online, they can be played at home or at work during one's leisure time, just as long as a computer and internet connection is available.

Europe's online sports gambling industry has been through some major changes recently, with one sweeping example being the changes in law and attitude of Poland's political leaders regarding gambling regulations. It is questionable whether the new Polish Gambling Act will be passed because it has not been approved by the European Commission yet, and they are likely to reject certain provisions contained within it.

Poland has moved slowly towards regulated online sports betting while outlawing all other forms of gambling in the country, including poker and casino games. If the new law were to be passed, the 12% turnover tax introduced for offline sports betting in 2010 would also be applied online, with all licensed operators required to operate from .pl domains, locate their data servers in Poland and run all financial transactions through banks registered in Poland.