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PROFILE OF GAMBLERS

- Gambling prevalence was greatest among the younger age groups and decreased with advancing age. For example, with slot machines the prevalence fell from 26 percent for those aged 16-34, to 2 percent of those aged 75 and over.

- Certain types of gambling prevalence ran counter to the overall age-based pattern: lotteries, for example, had the lowest popularity among those aged 16-24.

- Respondents who were single, were somewhat less likely to gamble than their married counterparts. Compared with 1999, gambling prevalence had decreased significantly among those who were (or had been) married or living as married.

- Prevalence of gambling was significantly higher among respondents whose ethnic group was White, almost twice that of other ethnic groups (Asian or Black).

- Participation in any gambling activity in the past year increased with household income.

- The survey confirmed the general supposition that those with higher education are less likely to gamble than those with only a high-school certification, but the actual numbers are more informative here: 6-in-10 of those with a university degree or higher had gambled in the last year compared with 7-in-10 of those with high-school level education.

- Those with high-school level education were about 50 percent more likely to participate in lotteries, scratchcards, bingo, slot machines, football pools and FOBTs than those with a university degree. The reverse was true for online gambling.

- Smokers and drinkers were more likely to gamble, and to gamble more often, than non-smokers and non-drinkers. Generally speaking the heavier a drinker one was, the more likely they were to participate in most forms of gambling, often as much as 4 times more likely as compared to modest or non-drinkers.

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