Behavioural markers can be used in identifying an individual’s risk for gambling harm based on their recent gambling behaviour. In the United Kingdom, the Senet Group, a gambling regulatory body, worked with major gambling operators to develop an algorithm to assess these behavioural markers. The resulting nine markers were called “markers of harm.” These markers of harm are used to create an overall risk score for each user. Different interventions are triggered based on a user’s overall risk score. This study evaluated the Markers of Harm system using sports betting data. Also, the researchers examined whether the Markers of Harm were associated with demographics (gender, age) and with proxies of gambling-related harm (e.g., account closure). Two samples of sports bettors, collected ten years apart, were used. The findings show that most users never had high enough risk scores to trigger an intervention. Markers of harm were associated with elevated gambling involvement and proxies of gambling-related harm. Younger age and male gender did not have a higher average risk score.
