The Pokies Players Poll: A Data-Driven Look at Australian Online Gambling Habits
Australia is home to the third-largest number of online gamblers in the world. But there are still some gaps in understanding Australian gambling habits. In an attempt to better understand how Australians gamble online, Pokies.bet surveyed 400 players on their spending habits, preferences for Australian casinos, and motivations for gambling online.
In the compiled data with existing government-sponsored research and found that:
1) A quarter of respondents have gambled at least once a week in the past six months.
The most common reason for playing pokies online is to pass time or relieve boredom.
There are some interesting gender differences: Men were more likely than women to play poker and use an Australian casino app while women were more likely to bet.
2) Of these frequent gamblers, 50 percent were male and 50 percent were female;
Data from Australia shows that men are more likely to gamble than women, and when they do, they spend more. However, this data covered everything including online gambling.
3) The majority of frequent gamblers began playing pokies three years ago
or more;
The survey revealed that respondents who began playing online pokies more than three years ago are the most frequent gamblers, but only 50% of players in this category were male.
4) Australian gamblers prefer pokies to casino games and sports betting
The Pokies Players Poll also found that the most common motivation for playing online is “to have fun,” followed by “I like the idea of winning money without leaving my house.”
In addition, respondents overwhelmingly said they had gambled online because they wanted to play games that feel the same way as their favorite land-based pokies.
Of the Australian online gamblers surveyed in the Pokies Players Poll, 30 percent reported spending $500 or more on mobile or online gambling. This figure begs the question: how much are Australians winning (or losing) from online gambling?
Australia has a thriving casino industry with over one hundred casinos and hundreds of table gaming venues operating throughout Australia’s capital cities and regional areas. Pokies are the most popular casino game in Australia, and have been for decades.
The Australian Gaming Council also found that Australians spent an average of $1,017 per person on gaming, $177 per person on racing, and $62 per person on sports betting that year.
We know that Australians are spending both time and money gambling online. But how much do they win, on average?
The answer is surprising: nearly $620 per person in the Pokies Players Poll said they won nothing from their last month of gambling while just about half of respondents (43 percent) reported winning between $20 and less than $200 during that same period.
Percentages for reporting losses were even higher – two-thirds of those surveyed lost an amount equal to or greater than what was won through these ventures over the past month. To make matters worse, 13% claimed to have lost at least five times more than what was won!
This data speaks volumes about why Australian gamblers should be monitored so closely by regulators.
Has the Pandemic Affected the Casino Industry?
Casinos in Australia took just as big a hit as any other industry. But it wasn’t just physical casinos that were affected by shutdowns. The closure of race tracks, bingo halls, and bars that host lottery games also played a hand in turning more Australian gamblers to online platforms.
The pandemic, in spite of a large number of players slowing down their gambling online. Some survey respondents indicated that their gambling habits had declined during the COVID-19 pandemic and attributed it to financial concerns.
It’s become clear: we’re all affected by this pandemic one way or another. And it’ll take time to sort things out once the pandemic comes to an end–but it’ll be all the more important for us to start examining what we can do in order to curb gambling addiction and avoid a repeat of these circumstances.
The closure of physical casinos and other gambling venues didn’t just hurt the bottom line for Australian gamblers. It also created a new opportunity for online gaming platforms to fill in some gaps left by brick-and-mortar businesses that are struggling with stricter regulations on their operations. This has led to an increase in online betting, which is expected to continue as more Australians shift from traditional casino games like blackjack or roulette into virtual experiences like playing slots or poker for money.
In Conclusion
Gambling is a fun and exciting pastime for many Australians. However, if you find someone struggling with a gambling addiction or spending too much time playing pokies online, it’s important to get help. You can start by visiting the website of an organization such as Gambling Aware Australia which provides information on how to identify and manage problem gamblers in order to break free from the hold that your addiction has over you. If you are concerned about addictive behaviors like this one, don’t hesitate to reach out today! Our team at Pokie Nation will be happy to provide more resources and support so that you can live a happier life free from gambling addiction.