Betting Behaviour in the UK

The UK has a strong gambling culture and it shows. Soon, online gambling is set to become the most popular form of gambling among those who like a little thrill in their lives. In terms of numbers, professional gamblers who make a living off horseraces and playing live casino games such as roulette, poker or craps, are few and far between. Most people playing are not professionals. They play in their free time for pleasure and social interaction.

In fact, Smart Live Gaming Casino recently published a study where some more interesting behaviour was uncovered in relation to gambling and people’s notions about it. Brits have certain standard gambling behaviours for example; males in the 18–24 range spend 21% of their gambling expenditure on slot machines. They spend nearly 10% more on slots than they do on casino table games. In general, after a seven-year interval, a man in his early thirties continues to prefer slot machines over other casino games but his love of the national lottery sky-rockets by 25%.

In his late thirties, the same man’s expenditure on gambling decreases overall, with spending on slots decreasing in half. What’s far more interesting is that horseracing, unlike online betting, private betting, and betting on sports and other events (not online) remains a consistently high-spend activity. On average 14,6% of a British man’s gambling money is spent on horseracing throughout his life. Women aren’t that different: horseracing remains the most popular betting activity for women of all ages.

However, although it may be popular with women of all ages, horseracing only peaks as a viable gambling outlet in women aged 25-34, whereas in younger women there’s less than a 10% inclination to spend money on any gambling activity.

The findings made by the commission are not only telling but they can also be used to conduct further research or to refine the gambling sector for better market reach. Professor Ellis Cashmore of Staffordshire University notes that despite gambling being seen as one of the 21st century’s nascent addictions, it actually remains very social. It should be both studied and informally regarded as socially driven rather than psychologically.