‘GLOBAL ONLINE GAMBLER SURVEY’:
An Exploratory Investigation into the Attitudes and
Behaviours Internet Casino and Poker Players
COMMISSIONED BY ECOGRA (E-COMMERCE and
ONLINE GAMING REGULATION AND
ASSURANCE)
AUTHORS: JONATHAN PARKE, JANE RIGBYE, ADRIAN
PARKE, JACQUI SJENITZER; RICHARD WOOD;
BELINDA WINDER; LEIGHTON VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Introduction
Internet Gambling Behaviour
• Despite the growth we know little about Internet gambling
behaviour and who does it
– Medium
– Type of behaviour
• Prevalence is difficult to estimate
– Most have more than one account
– There may be a reluctance to be identified (e.g. National Surveys)
• Suggested profile of the Internet gambler so far:
– Internet poker = 85% male (IGWB, 2004)
– Internet poker = average age < 40 years old; females even younger
Introduction
Internet Gambling Behaviour
• There is a general lack of research
– Biased samples (e.g. Ladd and Petry, 2002)
– Focus on “pathological gambling”.
• In a period consolidation, other means of competition is now
necessary (i.e. trust and brand loyalty):
– Confidence and need to offer a player “shortcut”
• The aims include exploring the following:
– Basic dynamics of Internet poker and casino behaviour
– Player protection and social responsibility
– Idiosyncratic and peripheral factors
Method
Survey
• Internet Mediated Research (IMR) – 85 questions
• Advantages and disadvantages of this approach
• Collecting data on gamblers is a difficult task
• Largest and most representative survey to date
• Varied sources (e-mails; portals; media and eCOGRA)
• Players targeted?
• Ethical Clearance
Representation
Total Respondents
Number
10865
Males
6246
Females
4517
Countries
96
Employment Sectors
37
Method
Focus Groups
• Key topics arising from survey – further exploration
• Advertisements were placed in a variety of sources
• Sessions usually lasted 90-120 minutes
• Details of participants include:
Breakdown of Participant Details and Locations of Focus Groups
Country
Number
Gender
Mean Age
Age Range
USA
11
All male
31
19 - 56
UK
23
All male
27
18 - 43
Canada
18
1 female, 17 male
37
21 - 60
Germany
17
7 female, 10 male
28
20 - 45
Sweden
25
4 female, 21 male
32
17 - 60
Results
Forms of Participation
Women %
Men %
Video Slots
84
36.9
Video Poker
31.4
21.3
Sports Betting and Horseracing
2.5
11.8
Poker
22.1
61
Blackjack
14
20.6
Roulette
5.1
8.8
Lottery
10.3
7.3
Bingo
21.1
5.8
Other skill games
(eg Backgammon and Mahjong)
8.2
4.1
Total Number of Respondents = 10313
Results
General Information
•The majority of online play takes place
at home
– Most commonly in the evening, followed by
late night,
– women were significantly more likely to play
work.
•Just under half of players are influenced
by the software provider when selecting
sites.
– Casino players were more likely
– One in five players was unsure
Results
Message Boards and Forums
Almost 40 per cent of respondents stated they
visited message boards or forums.
– mostly one to three times per day.
Total number of respondents = 4509
%
Total
1
To find out about promotional offers
64.6
2911
2
To get general information best worst/sites
53.4
2409
3
General read
40.5
1824
4
To catch up on news and events
36.7
1653
5
To get betting tips
21.5
970
6
To air my views
20.3
916
For general chat with other players
20.2
909
Results - Internet Casino
Typical Player Profile
The typical Internet casino player is likely to:
• Be female (54.8%)
• Aged 46-55 (29.5%)
• Play 2-3 times per week (37%)
• Have visited > 6 casinos in the preceding three months (25%)
• Have played for 2-3 years (22.4%)
• Play for between 1-2 hours per session (26.5%)
• Wager between $30-$60 (18.1%) per session
• Play video slots (80.9%) of which they consider bonus games to
be the most important aspect of the game
400
Count
Estimated Monthly Financial Performance
Results - Internet Casino
800
600
200
0
lose more than $50000
lose $25000-$50000
lose $10000-$25000
lose $5000-$10000
lose $2500-£5000
lose $1000-$2500
lose $500-$1000
lose $250-$500
lose $100-$250
lose $50-$100
lose $25-$50
lose $10-$25
lose less than $10
I break even
win less than $10
win $10-$25
$25-50
win $50-$100
win $100-$250
win $250-$500
win $500-$1000
win $1000-$2500
win $2500-$5000
win $5000-$10000
win $10000-$25000
win $25000-$50000
win more than $50000
Estimated Monthly Financial Outcome
Results - Internet Casino
Motivation
• Although, money is considered to be important in making
Internet casino play enjoyable,
– It was often considered as a secondary intrinsic motivation
– The least common motivation for gambling was to socialise
– Gender differences in motivation were confirmed
• Important factors in determining the where players choose to
play:
– Bonuses (76.6%)
– Game Variety (62.1%)
– Deposit Method (56.8%)
Results - Internet Poker
Typical Player Profile
The typical Internet 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 > 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 $0.50 to $2.00 (61.2%)
• Play with 6-10% of their bankroll at a table at anyone time (23%)
600
Count
Estimated Monthly Financial Performance
Results - Internet Poker
1,000
800
400
200
0
lose more than $50000
lose $25000-$50000
lose $10000-$25000
lose $5000-$10000
lose $2500-£5000
lose $1000-$2500
lose $500-$1000
lose $250-$500
lose $100-$250
lose $50-$100
lose $25-$50
lose $10-$25
lose less than $10
I break even
win less than $10
win $10-$25
$25-50
win $50-$100
win $100-$250
win $250-$500
win $500-$1000
win $1000-$2500
win $2500-$5000
win $5000-$10000
win $10000-$25000
win $25000-$50000
win more than $50000
Estimated Monthly Financial Outcome
Results - Internet Poker
Bankroll Management and Profitability
Mean Monthly Financial Outcome for Internet
Poker Players (scores based on category
membership and player's own estimates)
Complex Relationship Between Percentage of Bankroll Played at Any One
Table and the Estimated Monthly Financial Outcome
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
-0.50
-1.00
less than
2%
2-5%
6-10%
11-20%
21-40%
41-75%
more than
75%
Percentage of Bankroll Played Used at a Table at Any One Time
Results - Internet Poker
Multi-tabling and Profitability
Mean Monthly Financial Outcome for Internet
Poker Players (scores based on category
membership and player's own estimates)
Complex Relationship Between Number of Tables Played at a Time and the
Estimated Monthly Financial Outcome
4.00
2.00
0.00
1
2
3
4
5
6
Number of Tables Played at Any One Time
more than 6
Results - Internet Poker
Other Findings
• Men - more likely to
–
–
–
–
–
–
play more frequently,
have longer sessions,
play with a larger percentage of their bankroll,
play higher stakes,
play at more than one table simultaneously, and
use the chat function.
• Around 12% of Internet poker players gender swap
– Those who “always” perform significantly worse financially
• Winning money was reported as most important motivator however, when exploring this further in focus groups,
– makes the game meaningful,
– money was a secondary motivator and that
– many would still continue to play if losing long term
Results – International Differences
Monthly Financial Performance (Casino)
Results – International Differences
Monthly Financial Performance (Casino)
Results
Luck, Skill and Superstition
• 41% of respondents reported to have a lucky number,
– more likely to be female and younger players
• Women and Internet casino players were more likely have a
lucky charm
• Internet poker players - lucky items of clothing.
Top 5 Lucky Charms
Rank
Charm
Number of Responses
1
Photo of Pet or Loved One
48
2
Buddha Statue
43
3
Casino Chip
39
4
Coin
36
5
Rock/Stone
36
Results
Cognitive Biases
Mean Monthly Financial Outcome for Internet
Poker Players (scores based on category
membership and player's own estimates)
Perceived Monthly Financial Outcome For Internet Poker Players According
to Cognitive Bias
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
-0.50
Belief in Lucky Streaks
Use Gambler's Fallacy
Neutral or Unbiased
Use of Cognitive Biases in Internet Gambling
Results
Player Protection and Fairness
• Over a third had a dispute
– Most likely older or casino
– No differences
• The most common problems experienced by players were being
disconnected or software malfunctions.
– Non-payment was the least common concern among players.
• Players felt that there was a need for regulation in most areas
including: transparency, uniformity and responsiveness.
• Around half of all respondents felt that online gambling software
was fair and random.
Results
Player Protection and Fairness
• Customer service of this industry was marginally better than other
industries
– women being more positive
• The majority of players take action
– to avoid being subjected to cheating (87%)
– 88% to 91% consider 3rd party reports on payout percentage and randomness
to be at least somewhat important
• The body which was reported most frequently to have resolved
disputes was eCOGRA (49.7%)
• eCOGRA – interesting case study for importance of awareness
– From 28% awareness to only 4.6% who would not look for seal
Results
Responsible Gambling
Between 51% to 75% (across all
five features) of players stated
that they would consider some
responsible gaming elements at
least “quite useful”.
The players take:
• Hospitality E-mails
• Information Sharing
• Limits
• Affordability Checks
1. Regular financial statements (75%)
• Youth Protection
2. Self-set time limit (51%)
• Financial Statements
• Source of Income
Focus Groups:
– “players own responsibility” but
– “improve trust and brand”
• Nothing can be done
Discussion
• Gender differences
– Growth in acceptance as a bona fide pastime
– Differences in motivation
– Locus of control
• Age differences
– A cohort or age effect?
– A result of:
• Social networks;Time;Media coverage
• Internet casino
– Draw of the bonus
– Financial performance (hard to predict)
• Resistant to chasing; unbiased style of betting; motivations
Discussion
• Internet poker
– Forums – outside of play but important to the game
– Bankroll Management – less is more
– Multi-tabling – more is more
– Financial Performance: (in addition to the above)
• Resistant to chasing;
• More sites;
• Music;
• Boredom is costly
• Responsible Gambling
– Players do not favour restriction
– Several ideas suggested for protection
• Difficult to implement
• Future research needed (protective but not affecting enjoyment)
Discussion
• Fairness and Player Protection
– Players characterised buy uncertainty, mistrust and a lack of
understanding
– till important to players nevertheless!
– Evidence suggest a need to develop and maintain standards
• Few bodies
• Identifiable
• eCOGRA as a case study
– Customer service performing well
• Future Research
– Examine motivation further
– Strategic play
– Problem gambling and protective features
– Prevalence
Conclusion
We now have some idea what we are talking about!
–We know a lot more about who, what, where and when
–We know a little more about why
–We have a useful framework to guide:
•Future research
•Corporate strategy
•Policy and regulation