Online gambling is mostly a mobile pursuit
The pandemic sparked a rise in online gambling as more of us were forced to find ways to entertain ourselves from the comfort of our own homes. In fact, according to data from the UK Gambling Commission, online gambling is now the largest sector in the gambling industry, holding 40% of the overall market.
Conducted by Yonder Consulting, the research polled around 8,000 adult gamblers, asking them detailed questions about how and when they gambled. It seemed to suggest that many seasoned gamblers had never even stepped foot inside a casino or used a slot machine at a local pub. It also not only found that more of us are choosing to gamble online rather than venture out to casinos, but that most of us are doing our gambling from our smartphones.
Mobile gaming
For many younger people, the mobile phone has been a constant companion their entire lives. Since Apple changed the game in 2007 with the launch of the first iPhone, smartphones have worked their way into our public consciousness to an extent that, 15 years later, we couldn’t imagine our lives without them.
For those now in their late teens and early twenties and discovering the joys of gambling for the first time, it’s only natural they’d use their smartphone to experience it. The research revealed that three-quarters of those aged 18-34 use their smartphones to gamble, compared to just 14% of those aged over 65.
In 2021, 96% of adults owned a smartphone, up from over 25% in 2008. Those figures are truly astounding and underline just how strong a grip our smartphones have on us right now. The figures also show that fewer people use their PC and laptop to gamble now than in 2015 and that, oddly, around the same amount of people use their smart TVs.
Most gambling is done at home
Above all else, however, the data shows that most gambling is done at home, even now the pandemic has receded into the distance. Whereas it was once a communal experience it is now a solitary one and that is something legacy gamblers are going to have to acclimate to.
It doesn’t have to be a bad thing though. There are still lots of online games that allow gamblers to feel the thrill of gambling alongside other players. Consider a few rounds of online bingo, for example, or enter an online poker tournament. Yes, you’ll never get the same experience of sitting around a blackjack table swapping stories with the dealer but the sheer convenience of it more than makes up for that.
Also, you’d struggle to find such low buy-ins at a regular casino, so if you’re new to gambling, starting online could be the best place to earn your wings, so to speak.
