RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Prior to self-limiting their gambling behaviors, are subscribers from an online betting company (i.e., bwin Interactive Entertainment) who impose self-limits more heavily involved than other subscribers in Internet gambling? Do the gambling behaviors of the subscribers who imposed self-limits improve (i.e., in terms of stakes, bets, and frequency of betting) after the imposition of limits? How does self-limitation relate to the type of bets placed (i.e., fixed-odds or live-action sport betting, poker, or other games)?
PURPOSE
To date, no research has examined how self-limit tools might extend to online gambling. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prospective longitudinal gambling behavior of bwin subscribers who elected to self-limit their gambling expenditures. At the time that the present study was conducted, bwin had a default limit on deposits €5,000 (approx. $6722 CDN) in a 30 day period and €1,000 (approx. $1344 CDN) in a 24-h period. Through the bwin self-limit program, subscribers could impose lower limits on the amount they were allowed to deposit in a given month as the company computer system enforced the limits.
HYPOTHESES
Subscribers who imposed self-limits would be more heavily involved than other subscribers in Internet gambling prior to self-limiting their gambling behaviors and their gambling behaviors would improve (i.e., decreased stakes, bets, and frequency of betting) after the imposition of limits.
PARTICIPANTS
Participants were 47, 134 Internet gamblers who subscribed to bwin during February 2005 and placed bets on that site between February 2005 and September 2006. Of these, 593 imposed self-limits on their accounts.
PROCEDURE
bwin provided de-identified datasets of all transactions made on their site over the 18 month study period by individuals who subscribed to the betting service during February 2005.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The data consisted of the daily aggregate of individuals’ betting transactions, which included information necessary to create variables measuring betting behavior. These included days from first to last bet within the 18-month time period of the study (i.e., duration), percents of days on which a bet was placed within that duration (i.e., frequency), number of bets placed per day (i.e., bets/day), average bet size (i.e., stakes/bet), stakes wagered (i.e., total wagered), stakes wagered minus winnings (i.e., net loss), and net loss divided by amount wagered (i.e., % loss). The data also included information about demographics and types of games played. The focus was on two forms of sports gambling (i.e., fixed-odds and live-action), and on betting on poker and other games (e.g., casino, lottery). Fixed-odds betting referred to the more familiar type of sports wager in which players bet on the outcome of future athletic events. Live-action bets could be placed in real time on propositions posed by bwin while the sporting event was in progress. For both types of bets, players accepted the payoff offered at the time of the bet.
KEY RESULTS
The hypothesis that self-limiting gamblers’ betting behavior was meaningfully different from that of other subscribers who did not place limits on their account deposits was confirmed. The results also confirmed that self-limiters altered that behavior after imposing limits. Self-limiting gamblers played a wider variety of games and placed more bets than others prior to imposing limits. After imposing limits, self-limiters reduced their activity, but did not reduce the amount they wagered per bet. Time spent gambling, not just money spent, appeared to be an important indicator of gambling problems. Self-limiters were more likely to engage in live-action betting than the rest of the sample. In contrast to fixed-odds betting, self-limiters who continued to play live-action after imposing limits did not significantly alter their betting behavior. However, self-limiters who played both games were more likely to cease live-action play after imposing their limits than to cease fixed-odds play, suggesting that players considered live-action play more perilous. Self-limiters and non-self-limiters who played other games, a small proportion of the total sample, did not differ in their betting behavior on those games, and self-limiters did not significantly alter their betting on those games after imposing limits. Self-limiters’ preferred game type tended to remain consistent before and after they placed self-limits. However, self-limiters who initially preferred live-action or betting on other games were more likely to either stop gambling or switch their preference to fixed-odds than other self-limiters.
LIMITATIONS
The study included only behavioral measures (no self-report measures) and it was unclear as to how satisfied subscribers were with the self-limit program, which behaviors they believed were problematic, and how their expenditure related to their income. Though self-limiting subscribers were likely to have experienced gambling problems, they may not have been representative of all subscribers with problems. Only a small minority of people with a gambling problem actively seek help for that problem, so the researchers were limited in the conclusions they could draw about the online gambling behavior of people with gambling problems who do not seek help. Similarly, some self-limiting subscribers may not have been experiencing problems, but instead were using the self-limit option to avoid potential problems. The analyses included only subscribers’ bwin betting activity, so it is possible that self-limiters began or increased betting on other sites after imposing limits on their bwin betting. Finally, bwin was primarily a sports betting site, so the analyses mainly focused on sports bettors. The gambling behaviors and effects of a self-limit program on those behaviors might be very different for Internet gamblers who focus on other games, such as casino games or poker. Future research is needed to clarify this issue.
CONCLUSIONS
Individuals who believed that they were having problems with gambling (i.e., those who imposed self-limits) exhibited higher activity levels but not necessarily higher expenditures than other bettors. In considering risk, clinicians might need to pay at least as much attention to time spent gambling as to money spent or lost. bwin’s self-limit program might be a promising option for subscribers experiencing or are at-risk for gambling problems. The program appeared to help subscribers reduce their betting activity (i.e., frequency of betting, bets per day, and total wagered) and in some cases to possibly cease their gambling behavior. More studies of this kind are necessary to examine the effect of responsible gaming efforts on Internet gambling.
