People may be inaccurate when reporting their gambling behaviour. The purpose of this study was to compare the self-reported amount of money deposited with the actual amount deposited. The researchers also examined whether feedback about the actual amount deposited had an impact on any further monetary deposits. The researchers analyzed the data of 639 people who gambled online. This dataset was provided by a European online gambling operator. It included self-reported estimates of how much money one deposited. It also included information about actual gambling behaviour, such as how much was deposited, number of active gambling days, and how much money was withdrawn. The findings showed that most people estimated how much they deposited in the last 30 days fairly accurately. People who deposited higher amounts of money were more likely to underestimate how much they deposited. There were no significant differences between men and women in their accuracy. Younger people were more likely to overestimate their deposits than older people. After receiving feedback about how much money they deposited, people reduced their subsequent deposits. This happened regardless of whether they underestimated, overestimated, or correctly estimated the amount of money they deposited.
