Covid-19 and Online Gambling Trends

Introduction: 2020 kicked off to a rough start and the world is currently still plunge in a state of uncertainty and fear. Covid-19 has indeed brought about unprecedented challenges for everyone, from governments all over the world, to companies, and down to the very individuals. One of the more unforgettable moments for me resulting from Covid-19 would definitely be the lock-down period.

Basically, in order to contain the spread of the virus, several countries went into a lock-down where individuals are required to stay home at all times and are only allowed to be out during certain period for daily necessities.

In a way, the world effectively came to a halt, schools were closed, workers were told to return home, airlines were grounded, and the economy as a result took a huge hit.

Thriving of the Online Industries

Nevertheless, while the world seemingly grinded to a halt, the virtual became much congested and busy than ever before. While everyone were cooped up at home, there only form of entertainment or rather available things to do would be to go online.

Some may see the virtual world as a form of escapade from the stress resulting from the virus, some may see that as an opportunity to get online to pick up some new skills. Regardless, the online traffic spiked up exponentially! It is during this period that we have also witnessed a significant growth in the number of visitors to online gambling sites.

Online casinos attested that they have seen almost thrice the traffic visiting their sites. Furthermore, a significant of these players were actually fresh players.

Gambling Trends

So while there have been a spike in players visiting online gambling sites, were there a significant difference in terms of the gambling trends? Well, while the distribution of games remained largely the same as the pre-Covid-19 period, it was discovered that the average bets per game actually rose up significantly as well. No one has yet to really manage to pinpoint a reason as to why there was a spike in the average bet per game.

However, the preliminary understanding is that with the world sinking into recession, many people have turned to online gambling as a form of a secondary occupation hoping to make some money to tide them through the horrible situation, rather than as a mere form of entertainment. This means that, there is actually a spike in the number of problematic gamblers or rather gambler addicts.

Cross referencing to the data that was published, this hypothesis was indeed true! In parallel with the rise of players visiting online casinos not on gamstop, there was also an increase in the number of people seeking help for addictive gambling problems.

In the UK itself, the self-restriction program known as Gamstop as seen an increase in the number of people requested for self-restriction.

This means that people are effectively requesting for themselves to be banned from accessing any online casino sites licensed in the UK. This group of people are usually those who may have a gambling problem but are looking to snip the problem at its root, which is to avoid online casinos totally. However, there are those who may not even realise that they have a gambling problem which can be worrying as well. This is a global phenomenon, and therefore governments all over the world are coming out and encouraging people who think that they have a gambling problem or knows someone with a gambling problem to seek help earlier.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the main change that has taken place with the arrival of Covid-19 is actually an increase in the number of problematic gamblers, where the average bets per game has increased significantly.

While it is comforting knowing that there have been an increase of people applying for self-restrictions, pointing that there is also an increase in people acknowledging their gambling problems and are seeking help early, there is the other group who many not even realise that they have sunk too deep into this entire gambling problem.

Nevertheless, the online casinos are currently experiencing high volume from players all over the world, and every online casino is trying to fight for a piece of this high volume.