Australian Study Concludes Poker Players Least At Risk From Addiction

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Thursday, April 10th, 2014 | Written by Stephen Smith

In order to understand the potential of its gambling industry better, the Australian government commissioned Gambling Research Australia to carry out a comprehensive study of online gambling habits across the country. The study entitled “Interactive Gambling” surveyed 19,594 Australians and after three years produced an extensive 432 report designed to help the government decide whether to advance online gambling regulation and licensing.

Amongst other things, the survey concludes that sports betting was the most popular form of online gambling, followed by online casino games, the lottery and then poker. The study also concluded that there was not enough evidence linking online gambling with an increase in problem gambling, and that problem gamblers represented just 0.6% of those people surveyed.

Gambling in Australia

Australia may have a small population of just 22.68 million people, but the country has the highest rate of gambling in the world, with more than 80% of Australian adults engaging in some kind of gambling activity. Each year the country then collects around $4.6 billion in total gambling revenue, $3 billion of which is derived from slots known as poker machines.

As far as online gambling is concerned, however, the Interactive Gambling Act (2001) makes it an offense for operators to advertise or offer ‘real-money’ online gambling to Australian residents. Nevertheless, it is not considered an offence for citizens to access Australian friendly websites, or for companies based in Australia to offer their gambling services to people located outside the country.

Igaming does not cause increase in gambling problems

As well as concluding online gamblers are younger than their land-based counterparts, the study also finds that interactive gamblers had a more positive view of gambling than those participating in land-based games, and that they were more likely to gamble on “a significantly greater number of gambling activities” such as sports and poker, compared to non-interactive gamblers, who were more likely to wager on slot machines.

The report further stated that “there is currently insufficient evidence to conclude that interactive gambling is causing higher levels of gambling problems,” although it also sounded a note of caution, surmising that “it is possible that related problems might increase over time with increased participation.”

Ease of online access concerns players

The ease in which players can access online gambling sites may have helped grow the online gambling market in recent years, but that self same factor, along with enticing promotional offers, is also cited by the study as a major concern for gamblers, who may view this mode all too convenient for their own good.

The overall effect is that online gamblers may end up wagering more than they originally intended, leading to frustration as they lose their promotional bets and try to chase their lost money. As the survey highlights, internet gambling may increase problem gambling as a result of the “convenience and ease of access, ability to play in private, high speed continuous gambling, player incentives and advertising, and the immersive nature of the Internet.”

Poker players least at risk from problem gambling

However, poker players are seen as the group of gamblers least at risk from developing pathological gambling problems, with just three out of the 31 problem gamblers surveyed listed as poker players.

Interestingly, although 9.8% of internet poker players said that they “almost always” felt they had a problem with gambling compared to 4.8% of land-based poker players, the survey also concluded non-internet poker players tended to have more serious gambling problems compared to their online counterparts. The high rate of slot machine addiction in Australian is seen as a major factor in this regard, and as Dr. Sally Gainsbury of the Centre for Gambling Education and Research, explains:

“It shows that there are different risk factors, so some of the predictors of greater problems online are younger, male and betting on sports and races. In comparison, problem gamblers that are land-based are more likely to use the pokies.”

Other intriguing statistical information

Other interesting statistical data highlighted by the report includes the fact that 37.6% of respondents believe in a “Doomswitch,” or the ability of a poker site to jinx your game after withdrawing money from the site.

Finally, worldwide gambling via mobile and social gambling is forecast to grow 10% annually over the next few years and capture around 40% of internet gambling market by 2018. However, in Australia the popularity in mobile betting has yet to catch up with the rest of the world with just 14% of citizens reporting that they used smartphones and tablet computers to place bets.