Online vs. In-Person Gambling: UKGC Study Highlights Key Differences

Matt Bastock

The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published a short report examining the reasons behind people’s gambling activities. 

The report broadly categorizes the reasons people give for gambling into five themes: monetary, social, enhancement (fun or excitement), coping and/or escapism, and finally, the mental challenge. 

86% of gamblers in the past 12 months, and 90% in the past four weeks responded to the survey outlining they gamble for the chance of winning big money. 

Of the respondents, 70% (12 months) and 72% (four weeks) gambled because it’s fun. This was reduced to 58% (12 months) and 63% (four weeks) for the reason of ‘making money’. The least popular reason provided was ‘gambling to impress others’, which recorded just 8% across both time frames. 

Different Games, Different Motivations

When applying the broad themes to different gambling products, there were some interesting results. 

• Lottery and scratchcards: Entering the national lottery draw was most linked to monetary motivation. Scratchcard motivation was more of a mix, with monetary, coping/escapism, and enhancement all featuring prominently.
• Betting (Sports, racing, and events): Online sports betting’s strongest association was enhancement (excitement). In-person betting was more associated with the challenge motivation. Betting on ‘Other Events’ was primarily driven by coping and escapism motives. 
• Bingo: According to survey respondents, attending bingo halls in person is mainly driven by social motivations. Online bingo, on the other hand, is strongly associated with coping/escapism. 
• Casino games: The casino category excludes slots. Online play is strongly tied to coping/escapism, whereas in-person moves towards social but also coping/escapism and challenge. The use of casino machines or terminals shares similar characteristics but is also linked to monetary motivations. 
• Slot machines (Fruit machines and slots): The strongest motivations for online play were coping and escapism. The same motivations were prevalent for in-person slot play, but to a lesser extent. 

As shown above, online gambling is associated significantly more with coping and escapism. In-person play tends to be more associated with social and enhancement motivations. Monetary gain, or winning big, is not the main motivation for most activities (except draw-based lottery). 

How the Data Was Collected & the Limitations

The report’s data comes from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB). It included individuals aged 16 and older who had gambled at least once in the past twelve months. Of the 5,780 survey respondents, 4,562 had gambled in the past four weeks and provided data on more recent behavior. 

The report does not draw conclusions, and critics of the results point to self-reporting and sampling bias as reasons why the data can be misinterpreted. However, it can be considered a useful tool for understanding gambling motivations in the UK, especially the emphasis on social elements in person versus online. 

Helen Bryce, the UKGC’s Head of Statistics commented, “This is the first of two deep dive reports we will be releasing from the GSGB. The 2nd report explores the relationship between gambling activities and Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scores building on the relative difference analysis we included in the GSGB Annual Report (2023) published last Summer, by taking account of other factors such as number of activities someone takes part in and demographic variables.” 

The report on the relationship between gambling activities and the PGSI will be released in the next week. 

Written By

Matt Bastock

Matt is a casino and sports betting expert with over two decades’ writing and editing experience. He loves getting into the nitty gritty of how casinos and sportsbooks really operate in order to make solid recommendations based on real experiences. His favourite games are blackjack and poker, and he loves watching NFL and soccer in his spare time.

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 The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published a short report examining the reasons behind people’s gambling activities.  The report broadly categorizes the reasons people give for gambling into five themes: monetary, social, enhancement (fun or excitement), coping and/or escapism, and finally, the mental challenge.  86% of gamblers in the past 12 months, and 90%
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