The largest and most comprehensive global study of online gambling
and gamblers was unveiled to the press at the International Casino
Exhibition in London this week.
Covering 96 countries with responses from almost 11 000 international
players after the study was publicized through a wide variety of online
and offline media, the eCOGRA Global Online Gambler Survey was undertaken
by the Betting and International Gaming Research Units at Nottingham
Trent University.
One of the most surprising findings to emerge is that although playing
for money was important in terms of making games entertaining, overall,
the majority of gamblers appear to not be playing to win money long-term
– it’s more about the entertainment.
When players across all forms of gambling were asked why they gambled
online, answers such as ‘to relax’, ‘for the entertainment
and excitement’ or ‘to relieve boredom’, heavily
outweighed ‘to make money’ or ‘to win’, highlighting
that online gamblers view their pastime as simply another form of
leisure activity.
The scale of the sample has allowed researchers to create the most
reliable picture of the typical online poker and casino player to
date.
THE AVERAGE ONLINE POKER PLAYER IS LIKELY TO:
• Be male (73.8%)
• Be aged 26-35 (26.9%)
• Play 2-3 times per week (26.8%)
• Have visited more than 6 poker sites in the preceding three
months (25%)
• Have played for 2-3 years (23.6%)
• Play for between 1-2 hours per session (33.3%)
• Play one (24.1%) or two (24%) tables at a time
• Play both cash games and tournaments (34%)
• Play at big-blind (minimum stake) levels of 25p to £1.00
(61.2%)
• Play with 6-10% of their bankroll at a table at any one time
(23%)
THE AVERAGE ONLINE CASINO PLAYER IS LIKELY TO:
• Be female (54.8%)
• Aged 46-55 (29.5%)
• Play 2-3 times per week (37%)
• Have visited more than 6 casinos in the preceding three months
(25%)
• Have played for 2-3 years (22.4%)
• Play for between 1-2 hours
Player Attitudes
The best things about internet gambling are ‘convenience and
accessibility’ and ‘fun and excitement’, while ‘losing’
and ‘financial implications’ came top of the worst things
- as might be expected.
The vast majority of players say they are 'up' or 'down' within a
range plus or minus £130 a month or £32.50 per week.
Overall, players felt that there was some need for improvement across
a range of areas – 55% wanted to see an increase in the number
sites submitting themselves to effective self regulation e.g. eCOGRA,
while operator transparency (55%), clarity of regulations (54%), uniformity
of code of conduct (51%), responsiveness to complaints (49%) and better
responsible gambling features (48%) all featured highly on the list.
In addition to the 55% who supported effective self regulation, a
further one in four players (25%) felt ‘very strongly’
about the need for sites to sign up to a common code of conduct.
When it comes to customer service, it appears that online gambling
companies do well when compared to other industries. The majority
of players felt they received either the same level or significantly
better levels of customer service, even when they’d had a dispute
with a site.
Approximately half of all respondents had confidence in the integrity
of the software, although disturbingly, one in three people thought
that the sites had an on/off switch that allowed them to turn the
software in their favor– something that an eCOGRA member site
would find it impossible to implement thanks to the organization’s
standards for software development and independent testing procedures.
When it came to minimizing the risk of being cheated, 64% of players
‘often’ or ‘always’ played on the biggest
named sites, with 40% saying they ‘never’ played on smaller
sites because of this fear. In addition, 70% of players said they
sought out well known software providers or other assurances such
as the eCOGRA ‘Play it Safe’ seal (61%).
Player Behavior
Location
Play takes place mainly at home (89.7%) in the evening; however one
in ten women preferred playing in the workplace.
Message boards
Nearly 40% of respondents said they visited message boards or forums,
contradicting previous perceptions of online gambling as a rather
solitary activity. Message forums are visited to get information about
sites (53% say they visit for this purpose), to have a general read
and catch up on news (40% and 37% respectively), as well as find out
about promotional offers (the most popular of all, cited by 65% of
respondents).
Wagers and winning
The typical wager is between £15-30 a session in casino games
and poker players said they typically played with 2-10% of their bankroll
at any one time. In a further sign of realism about their chances,
a third of poker players say that the game required more skill than
luck, yet most say they were simply 'averagely' skilled.
Reasons for playing at specific casino sites
The most important single motivator for playing at a particular casino
site is its bonuses (75%), followed by game variety (62%), deposit
method and reputation (both 56%) and then promptness of payouts (54%).
Poker specific
The poker results provide a fascinating snapshot into the area of
multi-table play. The majority of players play one (24%), or two (also
24%) tables at a time, however researchers were able to ascertain
that after four tables, concentration drifts significantly and leads
to dramatic drop off in success. Likewise, the optimum amount of the
bankroll that a player should use is 2-10% at any one table to maximize
winnings.
Losses
Both casino and poker players were more likely to do well financially
if they refrained from chasing losses and were unbiased in their approach
i.e. not influenced by previous hands/game outcomes - all players
might do well to take note here.
Andrew Beveridge, CEO, eCOGRA comments on the findings: "These
findings are a salutary reminder about the vast majority of players
who enjoy this form of entertainment responsibly. Our job is to signpost
players towards those operators who are meeting the majority’s
expectations regarding fair play, responsible operator conduct and
provisions to address problem gambling. We are encouraged by much
of the feedback, but also recognize that we still have some way to
go.
"This report provides invaluable information that will shape
our approach for the next year as we continue to provide players with
a ‘gold standard’ level of protection. We are delighted
that the vast majority of players who responded were supportive of
eCOGRA’s efforts and we hope this endorsement will encourage
those within the industry that have yet to apply for our ‘Play
it Safe’ seal, to do so over the coming year."
Jonathan Parke, International Gaming Research Unit, says, "This
is exciting research in many ways. Not only does it mark the first
significant research collaboration between academia and the Internet
gambling industry to date, but it is also the largest research initiative
ever carried out in this area. There are many interesting findings:
some of which reinforce previous assumptions; some of which provide
a fresh understanding of player behavior and attitudes."
Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams, Director of the Betting Research
Unit at Nottingham Trent University, comments, "The importance
of this research for our understanding of the online gambling phenomenon
cannot be overstated. The findings of this groundbreaking collaboration
between academics and practitioners will have a significant, positive
role in influencing the thinking of policy-makers, regulators and
operators alike".
A summary report is downloadable from www.ecogra.org