SOURCE: Gaming Intelligence Group

The Swedish National Institute of Public Health has published the results of its one year study into the effects of online poker, classifying 27 percent of the country’s online poker players as problem gamblers.

The study of 16,500 adults was carried out during 2006 with three objectives; to identify the size of the online poker market in Sweden, to build a profile of online poker players and their level of problem gambling, and to gauge the effect of the launch of Svenska Spel’s poker site in March 2006.

The results show that online poker play has remained at a relatively stable level in Sweden throughout 2006 with an average of 1.9 percent of all respondents reporting having played online poker in the previous month. Based on a statistical accuracy rate of up to 95 percent, the Public Health Institute believes that between 126,000 and 157,000 adults played online poker on a monthly basis during 2006.

Male online poker players outnumbered females by a ratio of 10:1 with a common average age of 25 years old, while a very small proportion of online players where over 40 years old.

The study divided the responding participants into four groups, those that had not played online during the year, those that had played online but not for money, those that had played online for real money in games other than poker and finally those that had played online poker for real money.

The results show that online poker players staked a larger amount of money than those who bet on other games. The results also show that online poker players had a much greater propensity to become problem gamblers, with over 27 percent being classified as problem gamblers versus 2.1 percent of those who had placed other bets online.

The level of problem gambling identified by this study amongst online poker players in Sweden should however be treated with a degree of scepticism.

Gaming Intelligence Group has reviewed the results of the study in detail with the cooperation of Marie Risbeck, the research coordinator on gambling addiction projects at the National Institute of Public Health.

The high reported levels of problem gambling identified in the study amongst poker players are to a certain extent inflated due to the study’s definition of a problem gambler. In order to be classified as such, a respondent needs only to have played online in the previous twelve months and have twice in that time experienced any one of the following:

‘Attempted to reduce the level of gambling’
‘Felt restless or annoyed at not being able to gamble’
‘Lied about how much you have gambled’

In a conservative country such as Sweden, where the average age of an online poker player has been identified as 25 years old, it is not surprising that the research participants would answer positively to at least one of these three questions, particularly with regard to admitting how much one has gambled, even if it were for relatively low stakes.

Ms. Risbeck agreed in general with this assessment and stated that this was a first attempt at identifying online gaming behaviour in Sweden. She said the institute has already drawn up plans for a more comprehensive study which will run throughout 2008, and which will better address the question of what constitutes a problem gambler.

The results of the study also showed that Svenska Spel’s poker site had a somewhat different profile, attracting more female players than the foreign competition, as well as older players.

There was however little difference in the frequency of game play or the amount of time spent playing poker, although the amount staked was generally higher on the private operators sites.

The players that only played on Svenska Spel’s site also reported fewer gambling related problems, although this could be explained by the profile of these players who are generally older and face a smaller risk of developing such problems.

In judging the impact of the launch of Svenska Spel’s poker site on the online poker market in Sweden, the study was inconclusive, however it does suggest that Svenska Spel has attracted customers who may not have otherwise played poker online and in general has had little effect on the level of participation on other sites.