Gambling expenditure by game type among weekly gamblers in Finland

Increased volatility in video poker results in more winning players but shorter winning streaks - Evidence from simulations

Objective and Method

Electronic gambling machines are a prominent cause of significant gambling harms globally. We use simulations of a simplified video poker game to show how changes in game volatility, defined primarily by the size of the main prize, affect patterns of wins and losses as well as winning streaks.

Results

We found that in low- and medium volatility games the proportion of winning players quickly drops to zero after about 30 h of play, while in the high volatility game 5% of players are still winning after playing for 100 h. However, the proportion of winning streaks was significantly higher in the low- and medium volatility games compared with high volatility: the simulated players were on a winning streak about 26.3, 25.6 and 18% of the time in the low-, medium- and high volatility games, respectively.

Conclusions

Fast-paced video poker with varying volatility levels but identical return-to-player rates and win frequencies can yield highly different result patterns across individuals. These patterns may be counter-intuitive for players and difficult to realize without simulations and visualizations. We argue that the findings have relevance for responsible gambling communication and for building a better understanding of how cognitive biases influence gambling behaviour.

Types of gambling: finnish gambling narratives under the lens of systems theory

There seems to be no shortage of gambling and problem gambling typologies. At a closer look, however, previous research identified types of problem gamblers and not of problem gambling. While correct typologies of gamblers are important for developing treatment, they are less useful for harm prevention. The current study uses a system theoretical approach to investigate gambling communication in order to develop a genuine typology of gambling. Snowball sampling of Finnish gamblers resulted in 56 participants, who wrote 48 narratives about their ordinary gambling, 43 narratives about their most remarkable gambling event, and 28 about their worst gambling experience. The approach is informed by systems theory: communication on gambling is understood as a result of the reduction of contingency. Rather than focusing on the meaning of gambling or why people gamble, the analysis investigates what is included and what is excluded to make gambling discussable, i.e., the contextures of gambling. Economic and family/intimate contexture were the most prominent. The latter appeared most often in the most memorable gambling experiences. The economic contexture was more common in narrating ordinary and worst gambling situations. In all, four types of gambling could be identified: genuine monetary gambling, resonating monetary gambling, commensal gambling, and liminal gambling. When comparing the previously identified types of gamblers with the types of gambling discovered in the present study, it becomes obvious that a shift from the gamblers, their background, their personality, and their motives to the gambling activity provides novel insights. The constant appearance of the familial/intimate dimension in the narratives indicates that, beside the financial harms, societal harms also need to be treated as a category of harm in its own right, not just as a consequence of personality disorders, psychological distress, or social deprivation.

Compulsory School Achievement and Future Gambling Expenditure: A Finnish Population-Based Study

Background: Gambling is associated with many conditions that can compromise young people’s health and wellbeing, such as substance use and poor school achievement. Conversely, low school achievement can be linked to lower socio-economic position. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine whether compulsory school achievement is linked with gambling participation and gambling expenditure (GE) later in youth and whether GE is linked with lower socio-economic position. Methods: The Finnish Gambling Harms survey data (n = 7186) were used. The data were collected in three regions during spring 2017. Participants aged 18–29 years old were selected from the data. Past-year GE was examined using two measures: weekly gambling expenditure (WGE, in €) and relative gambling expenditure (RGE, in %). Logistic regression and log-linear regression models for past-year gambling, WGE and RGE were created. Results: Persons who had no more than a mediocre grade point average (GPA) had a 25% higher WGE and 30% higher RGE in 2016 than those who had an outstanding GPA in the compulsory school. Compared with persons with an outstanding GPA, those with a satisfactory to very good GPA spent 13% more on gambling, and their RGE was 17% higher. Additionally, those with lower socio-economic status (SES) had a higher WGE and RGE compared with higher SES. Conclusions: Even after controlling for other crucial background characteristics, early life success, in the form of compulsory school outcomes, seems to correlate with gambling expenditures later in youth. This suggests that the gambling behaviour can be linked to the cognitive ability of an individual. Our findings also imply that gambling could be more heavily concentrated on individuals that are already more socially disadvantaged. However, it is worth noting that individual factors such as traumas, antisocial personality, anxiety and depression are all associated with gambling and poor academic achievement. Overall, this suggests that various educational tools at a younger age can be effective in preventing gambling-related problems in later life.

Socio-Demographic Factors, Gambling Behaviour, and the Level of Gambling Expenditure: A Population-Based Study

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between socio-demographic factors, gambling behaviour, and the level of gambling expenditure. The data were drawn from the population-based Gambling Harms Survey 2016 and 2017 conducted in Finland. The data were linked to register-based variables. Past-year gamblers were included (Wave 1; n = 5 805, both Waves; n = 2 165). The study showed that of the 4.2 % of gamblers that produced 50.0 % of the total GE in 2016, 33.1 % of the GE was produced by those with a gambling problem and 43.3 % by those with at-risk gambling pattern. Compared to gamblers in the lowest GE group, those in the highest GE group were more likely to be men, aged 25 or older, with upper secondary education, have a high income, be on disability pension or sickness allowance, be frequent gamblers, gambling at least six game types, and showing at-risk and problem gambling patterns. Cumulative weekly GE by income tertiles remained fairly stable between the years. The results suggest that GE is highly concentrated. Among the small group of high-intensity consumers, the majority of the revenue comes from at-risk and problem gambling. Participants in the low GE group differ from those in the intermediate and high GE groups in terms of socio-demographics and gambling behaviour.

The Gambling Consumption Mediation Model (GCMM): A Multiple Mediation Approach to Estimate the Association of Particular Game Types with Problem Gambling

Bivariate associations of problem gambling with participation in particular game types often decrease when adjusting for demographics or consumption behavior (e.g., number of game types played). A summary of 14 peer-reviewed studies showed inconsistencies as well as conceptual and methodological challenges. The aim of this study was to expand previous research by a combination of (1) sophisticated feature-engineering, which disaggregates gambling intensity into facets within and beyond a game type of interest, and (2) the application of mediation models. Data comprised last year gamblers of three merged cross sectional Icelandic gambling surveys of 2007, 2011, and 2017 (N = 4422). For each of 15 game types (12-month time frame), a parallel multiple mediation model was applied to disaggregate bivariate associations of last year game type participation and problem gambling (Problem Gambling Severity Index) by six mediating mechanisms: (1) demographic problem gambling propensity, (2) number of game types played, (3) gambling frequency within the type, (4) maximum gambling frequency across all types beyond, (5) usual spending within the type, (6) maximum usual spending across all types beyond. Games showed two distinct profiles via which mediator they mostly impacted problem gambling: Electronic gaming machines offline, scratch cards offline, live betting online, and poker offline as well as online impacted problem gambling mostly via gambling frequency within, whereas all other types mostly impacted via the number of game types played. The applied mediation models answer the question by which mechanism game types impact problem gambling in a more exhaustive way than previous research.

Online Survey of Gambling Participation and Problem Gambling in Chiba City: Problem Gambling Rates May be Strongly Influenced by the Administration Mode

Prevalence studies on gambling participation and problem gambling in Japan have been limited. To obtain data showing the current status of gambling in Japan, we conducted an online survey on gambling participation and problem gambling among residents in Chiba City. The online data collection was conducted through an Internet research firm. Questionnaires were consisted of personal demographics, past-year gambling participation and severity of gambling risks. The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) was used as a survey instrument. Males (51.5%) were significantly more likely than females (25.5%) to have gambled in the past year. Problem gamblers (PGSI score ≧ 8) were 7.2% among males and 1.2% among females. Problem gambling was strongly correlated with frequent gambling, preference for Pachinko/Slot and smoking habit. The gambling participation rates were roughly lower than those reported in many overseas jurisdictions, whereas the problem gambling rates were considerably higher than those reported in the same jurisdictions. According to the total consumption model, it would be reasonable to consider that gambling participation rates show a positive correlation with problem gambling rates. The high levels of problem gambling may be due to the administration mode using online sampling, by which answers admitting unapprovable behaviors like problem gambling tend to increase. This suggests that the previous studies using conventional face-to-face or telephone methods may have underestimated problem gambling rates.