How much do people gamble?
January 10, 2021 9:15 AM Subscribe
How much does an average person gamble? If the multi state lottery spikes above a certain amount it tends to produce more sales, bringing in those that play that frequently, but limited for only a large prize pool. Maybe if they have an annual trip for Vegas or are drawn to Vegas for conventions they may gamble some as they don't visit a local casino. This would also include any that have a set objection. Say, for instance, they refuse to gambling as it brings no stimulating reward and they expected to lose anyways, so they don't. With the increase in casino building or changing of betting laws, has this changed the average person that was a non gambler to someone who does? More for a curiosity of how to guess at whether an amount is measured by dollars or people.
It will be culture-specific, but here are the 2019 statistics from the Gambling Commission, which regulates gambling in the UK. They have other statistics too.
We have a National Lottery, other smaller lotteries, a tradition of betting on horse racing and other sports, as well as high street gambling slot machine shops, bingo halls and casinos in many towns.
posted by plonkee at 10:05 AM on January 10, 2021
We have a National Lottery, other smaller lotteries, a tradition of betting on horse racing and other sports, as well as high street gambling slot machine shops, bingo halls and casinos in many towns.
posted by plonkee at 10:05 AM on January 10, 2021
A quick google search suggests that furnace.heart found the info I was looking for before I did :)
But it's not necessarily that simple; it sounds like you are looking into it at a deeper level than that.
The "average" is definitely just that in this case - an average. There's going to be a large number of people who are at 0, and the vast majority are likely between 0 and, say, $100 (based on the anecdotal "hey we went gambling for my birthday last night and I won $40 OMG" stories I hear).
There's also going to be a large amount of people on either side of the 'how much did I gamble this year' spectrum, with a big dip in the middle. e.g. a large number in the 0-100 range, few in the several hundred range, and a rise again in larger amounts. (Anecdata: My wife is in the former, I am in the latter.)
I think the lottery fever probably is mostly comprised of two things: People who regularly buy tickets on their morning convenience store runs who buy a few more when the jackpot spikes, and people who normally buy only very occasionally but the large notable jackpots motivate them to make it a point to pick up some tickets. "Hey, see that news story? You should be sure to grab a few tickets when you go to the grocery store later."
Lastly, there's a difference between those who gamble, and those who would gamble - only 18 states have casinos. So there's definitely a component of folks who would gamble more if they had ready access to be able to do so. I think there's definitely a component of people who would start gambling a lot more if their state approved casinos and they now had easy access, but I feel like an additional casino in Vegas or wherever already has them isn't going to suddenly make someone want to gamble who already doesn't (or gamble more, for that matter).
posted by SquidLips at 10:24 AM on January 10, 2021
But it's not necessarily that simple; it sounds like you are looking into it at a deeper level than that.
The "average" is definitely just that in this case - an average. There's going to be a large number of people who are at 0, and the vast majority are likely between 0 and, say, $100 (based on the anecdotal "hey we went gambling for my birthday last night and I won $40 OMG" stories I hear).
There's also going to be a large amount of people on either side of the 'how much did I gamble this year' spectrum, with a big dip in the middle. e.g. a large number in the 0-100 range, few in the several hundred range, and a rise again in larger amounts. (Anecdata: My wife is in the former, I am in the latter.)
I think the lottery fever probably is mostly comprised of two things: People who regularly buy tickets on their morning convenience store runs who buy a few more when the jackpot spikes, and people who normally buy only very occasionally but the large notable jackpots motivate them to make it a point to pick up some tickets. "Hey, see that news story? You should be sure to grab a few tickets when you go to the grocery store later."
Lastly, there's a difference between those who gamble, and those who would gamble - only 18 states have casinos. So there's definitely a component of folks who would gamble more if they had ready access to be able to do so. I think there's definitely a component of people who would start gambling a lot more if their state approved casinos and they now had easy access, but I feel like an additional casino in Vegas or wherever already has them isn't going to suddenly make someone want to gamble who already doesn't (or gamble more, for that matter).
posted by SquidLips at 10:24 AM on January 10, 2021
Response by poster: More along the thought process of SquidLips. Thanks for helpful links on the data that I'll add to the reading list.
Taking for instance the increase in Colorado sports gambling, promo codes for online bets and apps, promotion on the NFL pregame shows for Fox winning Terry's money or NBC pick's, Rocket mortgage squares etc. All of this continued streaming has to have an impact on the non gambler types. Even if it were not legal, joining an office squares for the Super Bowl, and the lottery. Saying they tried once, but with no winner, tried again. Just wondering how many people were in the no never and how to measure the growth of the gambling sites. Having fewer people bet more (higher bets or more frequent) or lots of people that don't wager much. With the ads increasing, free to play, guaranteed bets, it seems the current market is to get the non gambler to try it once and get the non experienced bettor hooked.
posted by brent at 10:42 AM on January 10, 2021
Taking for instance the increase in Colorado sports gambling, promo codes for online bets and apps, promotion on the NFL pregame shows for Fox winning Terry's money or NBC pick's, Rocket mortgage squares etc. All of this continued streaming has to have an impact on the non gambler types. Even if it were not legal, joining an office squares for the Super Bowl, and the lottery. Saying they tried once, but with no winner, tried again. Just wondering how many people were in the no never and how to measure the growth of the gambling sites. Having fewer people bet more (higher bets or more frequent) or lots of people that don't wager much. With the ads increasing, free to play, guaranteed bets, it seems the current market is to get the non gambler to try it once and get the non experienced bettor hooked.
posted by brent at 10:42 AM on January 10, 2021
What kind of an answer are you looking for? Suppose Nick goes to Las Vegas on Sunday and buys $200 worth of chips. He plays 1000 hands of blackjack betting $5 each hand (total of $5000 bet over the course of the day). At one point he is down $150 so he has only $50 but by the end of the day he has won most of it back and is only down $10. How much did Nick gamble? $200 ? $5000 ? $150 ? $10 ? 1 Sunday ?
posted by metadave at 2:06 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by metadave at 2:06 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Taking for instance the increase in Colorado sports gambling, promo codes for online bets and apps, promotion on the NFL pregame shows for Fox winning Terry's money or NBC pick's, Rocket mortgage squares etc. All of this continued streaming has to have an impact on the non gambler types.
It's worth considering the extent to which "non-gambler types" will even be aware of the things you're listing here. Like, I understand what some of the things in your list mean because I know what the words are, but others make no sense to me ("Rocket mortgage squares" = ???), and none of them are part of my world on any kind of regular basis. For context, I have nothing against gambling, but it has never interested me much. I have been to a casino once (and I lived in a city with a casino in the downtown for three years), have gone to two bingo nights, don't care about sports, and have bought a few (probably <10) lottery/scratch-off tickets in my life. I have probably gambled about $100, total. I suspect there are a lot of people like me, and most of us aren't even in the orbit where these enticements are appearing. I am online a lot and I see a lot of targeted ads, but they're never for gambling (though I'm sure they will be now that I've typed this and followed the links in other answers!).
posted by dizziest at 2:47 PM on January 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
It's worth considering the extent to which "non-gambler types" will even be aware of the things you're listing here. Like, I understand what some of the things in your list mean because I know what the words are, but others make no sense to me ("Rocket mortgage squares" = ???), and none of them are part of my world on any kind of regular basis. For context, I have nothing against gambling, but it has never interested me much. I have been to a casino once (and I lived in a city with a casino in the downtown for three years), have gone to two bingo nights, don't care about sports, and have bought a few (probably <10) lottery/scratch-off tickets in my life. I have probably gambled about $100, total. I suspect there are a lot of people like me, and most of us aren't even in the orbit where these enticements are appearing. I am online a lot and I see a lot of targeted ads, but they're never for gambling (though I'm sure they will be now that I've typed this and followed the links in other answers!).
posted by dizziest at 2:47 PM on January 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
In NSW, the Office of Responsible Gambling carries out a regular survey, to work out how prevalent gambling is, how much harm is being done, and what is changing. In its Chapter 7, with the details in tables, are some surveyed amounts of spending. The 'median spend' (see p60) is $15 AUD a month:
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:08 PM on January 10, 2021
Sub-sampled gamblers were asked how much money they usually spent per month on gambling. Three in five (59%) reported spending up to $20 per month on average, on gambling. Only 6% of gamblers spent $200 or more per month, and this level of expenditure was much higher among male gamblers (8% of whom spent $200 or more on gambling) than female gamblers (2%); and younger gamblers (10% aged 18 to 24 years).It's worth noting that NSW in Australia has an unusually high number of poker machines and gambling venues by Australian, and world, standards.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:08 PM on January 10, 2021
Chiming in to note that I also have no idea what those words in that order mean, and never see gambling ads. My city has a casino, it's a joke to everyone I know. I'm not aware of workplace betting pools anywhere I've ever worked. I have a friend whose relative gives them scratch off cards for their birthday and that's the only gambling I'm aware of in my social circles.
I think I may have dumped $10 in a slot machine in Las Vegas once 15 years ago, and when I was a kid we went to the racetrack once a year as a special treat and I'd get to place a few token bets. Not sure where that puts me in your mental model of non gamblers, but FWIW, I think your premise about how much gambling the average person is exposed to and how much that's changed may be wildly off base. (Or who knows, my people may be weird outliers, wouldn't be the first time.) If you can't get the stats you want on actual gambling habits, maybe you can tackle that angle instead.
posted by Stacey at 5:45 PM on January 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
I think I may have dumped $10 in a slot machine in Las Vegas once 15 years ago, and when I was a kid we went to the racetrack once a year as a special treat and I'd get to place a few token bets. Not sure where that puts me in your mental model of non gamblers, but FWIW, I think your premise about how much gambling the average person is exposed to and how much that's changed may be wildly off base. (Or who knows, my people may be weird outliers, wouldn't be the first time.) If you can't get the stats you want on actual gambling habits, maybe you can tackle that angle instead.
posted by Stacey at 5:45 PM on January 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
Here's the long term history of gambling spending in the US; around $450 per person per year recently.
As everybody has noted, the average isn't a great measure here, since some people gamble a lot and some never do. This study summarized here from 1997 essentially found that 20% of households in Canada did no gambling at all; the next 20% spent an average of $20. The 40% after that spent an average of $175* and the highest 20% spent an average of $900 or so.
If you want to really dig into this, there is public use microdata available from the consumer expenditure survey in the US. You could look at specific households and see what they spend (if any) on lotteries and games of chance.
A challenge with any of these statistics is that there can be an extreme tail in gambling that won't exist in a lot of other areas; it's possible for someone to lose six figures in a single night gambling -- it would be virtually impossible to spend that much on say restaurants or entertainment tickets in a month. This small segment would be hard to find in a sample. (The reverse is also true; if there's 20 big Powerball winners a year and you survey 30K households a year, it would take you on average around 200 years to find a Powerball winner.)
* My guess (assuming a proportional increase in each group) is that the middle 20% spent around $75 on average and the next highest 20% spent an average of around $275, but this is conjecture. This would make the average household expenditure around $250, but with 60% of households spending less than $100.
posted by Superilla at 11:48 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
As everybody has noted, the average isn't a great measure here, since some people gamble a lot and some never do. This study summarized here from 1997 essentially found that 20% of households in Canada did no gambling at all; the next 20% spent an average of $20. The 40% after that spent an average of $175* and the highest 20% spent an average of $900 or so.
If you want to really dig into this, there is public use microdata available from the consumer expenditure survey in the US. You could look at specific households and see what they spend (if any) on lotteries and games of chance.
A challenge with any of these statistics is that there can be an extreme tail in gambling that won't exist in a lot of other areas; it's possible for someone to lose six figures in a single night gambling -- it would be virtually impossible to spend that much on say restaurants or entertainment tickets in a month. This small segment would be hard to find in a sample. (The reverse is also true; if there's 20 big Powerball winners a year and you survey 30K households a year, it would take you on average around 200 years to find a Powerball winner.)
* My guess (assuming a proportional increase in each group) is that the middle 20% spent around $75 on average and the next highest 20% spent an average of around $275, but this is conjecture. This would make the average household expenditure around $250, but with 60% of households spending less than $100.
posted by Superilla at 11:48 PM on January 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Gambling ultimately, is about winning.
But "almost winning" actually produces almost the same endorphin high as winning.
And since there is only one winner, there must be a whole host of losers who "almost won", who got as high as the winners, except they didn't get the winnings.
https://theconversation.com/designed-to-deceive-how-gambling-distorts-reality-and-hooks-your-brain-91052
This seriously depends on each individual's self-control. If they don't have enough, even going there once may get them hooked. I honestly don't know what to say about an "average" person.
I've always seen gambling as basically a tax on the poor who saw no way out of their situation and don't care about the odds any more. Sure, there are people who only go to casinos to "relax", but they are usually seniors on a fixed budget so they know exactly how much they can spend and nothing more. Average working class go to casino to lose and feel that rush of almost winning, only to sink deeper.
posted by kschang at 6:52 PM on January 11, 2021
But "almost winning" actually produces almost the same endorphin high as winning.
And since there is only one winner, there must be a whole host of losers who "almost won", who got as high as the winners, except they didn't get the winnings.
https://theconversation.com/designed-to-deceive-how-gambling-distorts-reality-and-hooks-your-brain-91052
This seriously depends on each individual's self-control. If they don't have enough, even going there once may get them hooked. I honestly don't know what to say about an "average" person.
I've always seen gambling as basically a tax on the poor who saw no way out of their situation and don't care about the odds any more. Sure, there are people who only go to casinos to "relax", but they are usually seniors on a fixed budget so they know exactly how much they can spend and nothing more. Average working class go to casino to lose and feel that rush of almost winning, only to sink deeper.
posted by kschang at 6:52 PM on January 11, 2021
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That site puts the estimate at $400/year for folks in the US and $600/year for folks in Canada.
Some of your other information seems to be addressed over here resulting from a search on "surveys on american gambling." But again, it's from a problem gambling support org too, so the figures may be spun in a specific direction.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:28 AM on January 10, 2021