In 2019 the UK Gambling Commission made a survey where 47% of the participants had been gambling in the past four weeks from the time of the survey.
Under that premise, participants were inquired about their gambling activities and preferences, their perception towards the industry, and utmostly the most dreaded question: problem gambling, gambling with negative results and high possibility of losing control.
After seeing the data and crunching the numbers for a while, we share our analysis here at Augusta Free Press.
Gambling Participation
- 47% of the consultants had been involved in gambling activities in the last 4 weeks, with 51% of them doing it actively at least once a week.
- People in the 45-54 years old group are the main representative of the gambling community. But if we discount the national lottery draws preference from all groups, the 24-34 category will take the lead with its 41%.
- Over the years this figure might increase as the younger gamblers ages and have access to more purchasing power.
Problem Gambling & Gamstop
According to the Problem Gambling Severity Index, 0.6% of the survey participants were categorized as problem gamblers, a stable figure since 2016 (0.7%). On the other hand, 0.8% of participants were found as middle-risk gamblers who don’t mind registration at the UK gambling sites not covered by Gamstop, while 2.7% were detected to be low risk-gamblers.
Mobile > Desktop
A total of 21% of people reported gambling online. 50% had done it using their mobile phones (being men the largest users with 56%) with a preference of 76% over 16-24 and 72% over 25-34 age groups compared to 14% of the +65 group.
However, mobile gambling is becoming a growing trend, experiencing increases in users over all age groups with the exception of the 25-34 category.
Online Gamblers Stay at Home
Among the places favoured for gambling, in-home gambling has been the number one choice with 95% of the consultants, followed by gambling at work with 15% (a 3% increase from 2018) and commute 12%.
National Lottery is a Top Choice but Football is Still the King of Sports Betting
- The National Lottery takes a 30% share of the gamblers pie, followed by other lotteries (13%) and scratchcards (10%). Although sports betting along with eSports streams has a 6,7% share, it has experienced a sustained increase over the past 5 years from its initial 3,5%, while the National Lottery has remained pretty much the same.
- On the other hand, year after year, football is still the favourite among sports bettors with a 5,8% preference, followed relatively close by another national favourite: horse racing, with a 4% preference.
Players Don’t Read the Terms
Only 20% of online gamblers read the Terms & Condition when registering for a new account, with 65% finding them helpful. However, considering that online gamblers have in average 3 accounts (the same since 2018). 62% recognized being aware of T&C but they simply pass them.
Gambling Ads
- At least 87% of respondents have seen/heard any gambling advertisement, with 51% recognized seen gambling advertising on television from the last week, compared to more compelling platforms like social media (30%)
- Among online gamblers that have been prompt to spend money on gambling, 44% did it through ads while 29% recognized doing it because of bonuses and free bets.
- However, people prompted to spend money on gambling by advertising and promotions .have slowly reduce its numbers. Compared to its peak in 2017, all forms of advertising have experienced a decrease of 5%-7%, with the exception of social media with a 2% variation
Trust Level
- 43% of respondents agreed with the statement that gambling was associated with criminal activity. The increase had a 5% growth from 2018 last report. The result is not only related to people who didn’t engage in gambling over the last 12 month but actually had a similar trend over active gamblers who shared the same opinion.
- When people were asked which crimes are associated with gambling, they stated the following: gambling addicts stealing to carry on gambling (34%), followed by fraud (19%) drug dealing/trafficking/prostitution (18%) and money laundering (17%).
- All these figures can be linked to the significant decrease in gambling’s perception as a fair activity in the last ten years, dipping its trust levels from 48% to 29%.
Author Bradley Oliva is a British lawyer that has tied up his life with iGaming industry. Spinning slot machines is his hobby. While his legal career, he’s started writing articles and creating websites to show UK players his tricks and advice.
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