Gambling during COVID
Posted by: TaylorCS
14th Dec 2020 11:07am
The Australian Institute of Family Studies recently completed a survey of 2,000 active gamblers to understand how their behaviour and/or attitudes toward gambling changed during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Almost 1 in 3 survey participants signed up for a new online betting account during COVID-19, and 1 in 20 started gambling online.
Even with limited access to venues, overall, participants gambled more often during COVID-19. The proportion who gambled 4 or more times a week increased from 23% to 32%.
How did your gambling habits change during the COVID-19 lockdowns? And did it have a positive or negative impact on you?
Almost 1 in 3 survey participants signed up for a new online betting account during COVID-19, and 1 in 20 started gambling online.
Even with limited access to venues, overall, participants gambled more often during COVID-19. The proportion who gambled 4 or more times a week increased from 23% to 32%.
How did your gambling habits change during the COVID-19 lockdowns? And did it have a positive or negative impact on you?
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Comments 36
College
I come from an extended family of non-gamblers1
KatiB
I work in the industry right from the start of COVID-19, people may say they have been gambling less but the volume of calls we handle has been as consistent as ever
Nellyy
I seldom gamble aside from say one $2 scratchie ticket a year.
The biggest gambling problems in Australia would have to be poker machines. I think they should be banned as people get into massive debt and individuals and families are thus negatively affected. Of course, the government makes so much revenue from poker machines they will always be a blight on society.
I also think that betting on any animals should be banned as this is sheer cruelty.
If people want to bet on human sports players this is not cruel however still creates destructive gambling addictions.
People will always find something to gamble on so while there is still poverty and loneliness in the world gambling will continue.
Also, some people simply love to gamble. Who am I to pass judgement.
I understand why more gambling is occurring during the COVID pandemic due to loneliness, boredom and reduced income.
joye
no change - didnt gamble, except to buy an occasional lotto ticket ...
ivory
No change. I have no spare cash to gamble with. Would rather be outside any way.
elemays
I don’t gamble although I was convinced that I would win something from buying a ticket in those home raffles, I entered three times and won nothing so I won’t enter again.
squeekums
im not a big gambler so no change for me
online makes it easy for people
Jazza1991
I don’t gamble so my habits didn’t change but I can understand why there was an increase. Many people were bored during lockdown or it made them feel less stressed about the situation. Online gambling would be a quick and easy option for them.
So31553007
Too risk to go out and unsafe to meet a large group of unknown people.
Marie-Clare
No change in my gambling habits occured. I don't gamble normally and didn't gamble during the Covid lockdown-either at physical premises or online!
Koringanal
Due to the Covid-19 restrictions etc, I have not involved myself with gambling on line or in the various clubs.
saed
I don't generally gamble, however, from what I have heard, the online platforms which specialize in gambling and betting have performed strongly during Covid-19 era, particularly computer based games were of great demand.
jordy58
I have a betting account but on review I find I have used it less over the past few months.I think it more prudent to save the moneyy at this time
shaz
Dramatic change as we have a meal as well. I missed eating out more than playing the pokies. I can't imagine all the germs on the money. I'm in no hurry to resume playing,
nette
After many years working in the community welfare sector, I have seen first hand the destruction and despair of family units caught up in the battle of gambling addiction. Best not to start in the first place. The government and community have responsibility to discourage media and casino advertising slanted toward gambling and profiting from other's misery, This is an area very few people emerge from unscathed, which is especially saddening during this time of high unemployment when people are desperate to try and get ready money but instead get into even more debt. It has not affected me personally during Covid but I have been on the front line of trying to help others who are severely impacted and it soul-destroying to see and experience the damage caused.
franken
I never gambled before Covid -19 and I did not gamble during Cov id-19. Hence it had no impact on me whatsoever. My only fetish is Saturday lotto.
Momma Bear
I was buying scratties during COVID-19, but have stopped now. Found it to be a total waste of money and very frustrating to say the least.
chocogirl
I buy a lottery ticket just a few times in the year and nothing changed during the pandemic,
Monica Mac
I have been addicted to bingo for a long time. When I discovered online bingo, things got out of hand. I was spending money for items in a VIRTUAL game. I finally gave up the bingo game I was playing, after playing it every day for over 5 years. I spent a LOT of money doing this and it was very addictive. I spent a lot more money in the middle of the pandemic than I did before, but I was partially saved because I worked all the way through and I didn't really have much time to play. I went cold turkey with that game and it took some weeks before I wasn't triggered by the name of that game, as some of my friends still played it. I still play bingo online, but a different game which doesn't require you to spend real money on items to help you complete something. I also play a free match 3 game everyday and that has really helped get over my addiction. Honestly, I still spend too much time online playing games but at least the little bit of money I have, isn't being wasted anymore.
geffa
I gambled a little bit more, but nothing drastic. I guess it helped that there was not much sport to gamble on.
renee2786
I stopped gambling altogether during covid and at first it was because the pubs and clubs were closed but once they opened and I saw the amount of money I was saving I continued to abstain from gambling and realised I was just wasting my money by doing so and that I can use it for bigger and better things and actually have something to show for my hard earned cash.
heeleen
I find it mind shattering about how many ways to gamble and to gamble on, I noticed that they now have fictional horse races and greyhound races to bet on, crazy, I like going to the club every now and then , about once a month or so with friends. If you look at all the things you can gamble on , well there are so many , like with super funds, there are so many different ones out there. Why , because like gambling they all make money.
bj
I just love to go to the pokies, the music of the crazy machines, the people I only see when I am there, it is relaxing for a while.
BUT I couldnt go every day as some do, I find the overall noise is draining and the screens affect my eyes, making them very tired. I have never won big, in saying that I have never lost big either. After a meal and out and about with a friend it is sort of fun to pool our cash to waste on the machines. These dreadful time wasters were built by men to get their wives out of the way while while they had a beer, not really but.. The games themselves are what a small child would like, dragons, wolves, space men, magic gardens, little elves and fairies. Why are we the adults attracted to these, I think that we may all have a kiddie streak, thats why we may find them fun. I have seen the darker side though, I watched a woman win a $3000 jackpot, before I had left she was down to the last hundred credits, muttering and stabbing at the buttons. This was not enjoyable for me.
. V
Didn't I don't gamble, I have a moto - Never gamble what you can't afford to loose' this stops me from ever wanting to gamble. I don't have any spare money to gamble with. I am not even tempted by those stupid gambling emails.
I have heard some people are gambling big online. personally I don't trust the machines etc, so there is little chance I would trust the outcomes of gambling online, I would say they are rigged for you to get sucked in and take your money. You are playing online on a screen that is electronically set up somewhere in cyber space. As for betting same moto applies no matter what the odds are. Odds are better not to gamble the money and you have not lost any money then.
des
If anything it increased just a little with lotto and instant scratch tickets but never more than we could afford to pay certainly not out of hand. Was an easy way to buy gifts etc during lockdowns to buy online lottery tickets and send via email etc. I think it perhaps was more positive than anything because of the fact we could still send as a gift via email made us feel closer to family and friends that we couldn't see at the time. I generally have a negative opinion of gambling especially on the TV advertising at times when children are still watching. I feel it normalizes it to the point they grow up thinking it's ok to spend heaps on races, sports etc . Where as i don't mind the odd lottery ticket I don't like what problem gambling does to families in this country and am astounded at the advertising allowed on tv.
allu
Frankly, good question. GAMBLING was really very positive IMPACT on GAMBLING addict plyers . For me and my family, we hate to Gamble in any way what so ever.
mare
I used to play the pokies about once a week but since covid I haven't been out socially - it was necessary...
Coastgirl2
No change for me, my partner brought a few extra lotto tickets.
Momma Bear
I brought some scratties each week along with my lotto tickets, but stopped now as a waste of money and very frustrating to say the least.
Dorrie30241210
I personally don't gamble, but I really think it's a terrible thing to even have the options to do so while in isolation. People get bored, lonely and desperate. Gambling ruins lives.
Bigbear
I do not gamble online anymore, but can see that some people who are at home for extended periods may look to escape the boredom, monotony and turn to online gambling. But turning to gambling as a way to de-stress may easily backfire as gambling doesn't always work to relieve stress. I think online gambling is high-risk as it’s easy to lose a lot of money quickly, this in turn can generate additional stress and cause your wellbeing to suffer not to mention exacerbate difficulties associated with relationship issues, making ends meet and the prospect of unemployment and loss of income.
Grazzer
Personally, my gambling participation has not altered. People who gamble away their lives remain illogical beings.
ivory
I've never been a gambler and this didn't change during the pandemic.
Radda
Gambling rates were up and down during Covid lockdown and in general. People were more concerned about their health and what is happening in the world, rather than their bad habit and addiction. You can't measure the gambling rates just by surveying 2000 gamblers, they are not the real indicative of how gambling changed during Covid. I read on the news that it was the other way around - gambling rates fell duorng Covid and not just because the venues were closed but because people have other concerns/problems to deal with. I never gambled in my life and I hope to stay this way for many more years to come. Gambling affects so many peoples lives and mind that it is a terrifying figure. It has no impact on my wellbeing whatsoever. I tend to concentrate on much happier greater things in life.
geffa
Other forms of gambling increased dramatically though (I.e day trading shares)
Snake
I often wonder about gambling and what actually makes people want to do it. I know that there is the chance of winning some prize or other and then there is the excitement of hopefully winning in a big way… even to the point of setting yourself and your family up for a life time, but surely this has to be set against the disappointment of losing regularly, sometimes in a big way. Perhaps I’m too logical because it is a known fact that everything from the pokies to bookies, the odds are stacked in their favour. Disregarding the facts that lotteries are often ways of raising money for a good cause, the actual chance of winning are so long I wonder if people would make the comparison with the chances of finding a long lost friend say in a large city such as Sydney by picking just one address from the millions living there. Well your odds of walking up to the front door and finding him/her living there would be similar to winning a lottery. Virtually nil.
So in answer to your question regarding a gambling habit, you will not be surprised to hear that any gambling habit I might have had prior to the pandemic has not changed at all, because I know that the odds are far too long to have changed my opinion and would just make me poorer than I already am.