The players who are the future of tomorrow are probably in their twenties now. It is interesting to note that almost 50% of these people gamble. However, the question remains that is all the gambling taking place on poker machines. Where do these players play, in clubs and pubs or online pokies? What do they look for in gambling?
On behalf of ClubsNSW and IGT, Utting Research carried out a survey where the aim is to understand the attitude of the players towards gambling. 20-29 year olds were targeted for the research. There were a total of 800 people and the research was done via online questionnaire. The test was done in September 2017 after initial research done through focus groups. The main target audience was respondents, who said that they gambled minimum every 6 months.
Nigel Turner at IGT said that usually twenty something is the group which is believed to shun all kinds of traditional gambling venues and pokies. Instead of these conventional means, they would prefer using digital media like mobile phones, smartphones or other kinds of digital resources instead of a fixed machine. The motive of the research was to find out the real scenario.
The findings are as follows:
- 50% of young people in their twenties gamble on various things, including horse/dog racing, sports betting, casino games, pokies, online non-sports etc. Scratchies and lotteries are not included here.
- The gender split was kind of 58% men and 42% women.
- Sports betting came out to be more popular than pokies. 42% are seen gambling minimum once every three months, 13% weekly and 16% monthly.
- Pokies rank second with 33% playing once every 3 months, 12% monthly and 5% weekly. Occasional playing is attributed to 61%.
- 52% of youngsters who were surveyed earn more than $80K per annum with majority spending less than $50 a week on gambling. Most of the gamblers are modest and don’t want to take any kinds of risks.
The research also showed that 60% of the surveyed group visit a pub every month and30% visit a club. 22% gamble in a club while 26% gamble in pubs. When specific questions were asked on pokies, the numbers just reversed – 22% in pubs and 26% in clubs.
In the research it was established that pubs were better destinations for watching sports, enjoying food and drinks. However, when it came to playing pokies, clubs surely won over pubs greatly.
Many gamblers opine that they do not fancy playing at pokies in clubs, as the joints seem unfriendly and too dark. The majority who still play usually look for a game which is based on cost of play per spin. However, pokie players who are frequent and experienced will look for themed or classic games or search for jackpots.
When it comes to poker machines, what do the 20-somethings want from the device? The one thing they want is that all friends should be able to play together; there should be games of different skill levels and involvement; having an intense engagement, etc. However, there are many who want the place to be a place for socializing where they can eat, drink and enjoy some games. More than 50% of players wanted some element of skill which should be used in the machine play.
Conclusion:
- Young gamblers are not very averse to pokies though there is a lot of negative publicity in the media regarding the same.
- The market is quite large. Half of the people in their 20s are into gambling on pokies and almost 1/3rd playing pokies minimum once in 3 months.
- New types of games can be tried in the pokies – skill based casual games need mention here along with electronic betting games.
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