In recent years, the sector of Online gaming has evolved enormously, to ultimately represent more than 10 % of the profits made in this sector. But how do the American play, and what are their playing habits?
This is what the game observatory (or the ODJ) is tried to decipher by conducting an investigation into online players' behavior. A study on 6,200 people that allows you to learn more about the most popular games, the average age of players, but also the risk of addiction.
What are the American game habits?
Difficult to say if the American are good players, but it can be said without making a mistake that they like to play. According to this study conducted in 2016, The most popular games remain scratching and sports betting. A number which has decreased slightly in recent years, but which would seem to be composed by an increase in bets (with an average of 10 euros per player, compared to 8 euros in 2014).
Online, it is above all the lottery that attracts more and more players. According to the survey carried out by the ODJ, 7 out of 10 players play online lotteries regularly (a category in which we also find scratch cards like Illiko). Come next Sports betting, (more than 3 million players for a total of 7 billion and a half in 2018), poker, and finally the horse racing.
However, it is important to qualify these figures sinceThey only concern the sites authorized by the Arjel (the regulatory authority for online games). Or the platforms operated by the 15 companies that hold the famous license. This de facto excludes online casinos, very popular but which are still not regulated in USA.
This is the major problem in USA, since a large majority of money game sites in USA are now considered illegal. A very relative illegality which is far from slowing down the American who access it - be with a VPN, either directly, and bet there very regularly. According to the ODJ, 2 out of 10 players would go there at least six times a month, since they do not give any prosecution.
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Increasingly connected players
But the main trend that emerges from this survey is that American players have resolutely migrated to online gaming sites. Indeed, the game observatory reveals that they represent more than 5 % of the population (or nearly 2.4 million players).
In addition to being more and more numerous, online players also tend to be very active, spending an average of 1,500 euros per year. A tenth of these American people's American followers would even have more than 3,100 years over a year: a huge sum with regard to the average American salary. Moreover, the uploads would have increased by almost 20 % in 2015 only.
Are the American addicted to gambling?
The other question posed by this barometer is whether the American would not be addicted to online gambling. And in this case, almost 17 % of them would be very dependent. Indeed, among the more than 2 million American people who declare that they have already played games of money and chance online, more than 45 % do it with a
attendance, that is to say at least once a week.
A bad habit that would be rather masculine, since 57 % of online players are men. For some gambling, this percentage will be even higher, especially with regard to sports betting. The average player, contrary to what one might think, is also rather young and has a high level of study.
But it is the increase in the proportion of problematic players (at moderate risks for 10 % of them, and excessive for the remaining 7) that worries observers. Indeed, dependence is all the stronger when the game habits are done online, since less than 3 % of traditional players are affected by this problem.
For researchers, these results only confirm the Internet represents a much stronger risk of dependence. In particular, they advise authorities to launch campaigns targeting the most risky persons, that is to say young people and higher social categories.
