Sweden: Offshore players more likely to report excessive play

Of the 3208 people surveyed, 7% said that they played on a site which didn’t hold a Swedish gaming licence – up from 3% from the last survey conducted. However, the accuracy of both of these figures may be in doubt due customers’ knowledge levels of whether sites were licensed.

While the majority of players reported using licensed channels, 12% were unsure whether or not they played on an unlicensed site.

Players who played on unlicensed sites admitted more readily than other players that their gaming increased during the coronavirus pandemic. Of the 32% of people who claimed to play with these sites at least once a quarter, 19% said their gaming habits have increased compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, 10% of players acknowledged that they had played too much in the last three months, with those who used unlicensed sites more likely to report this. While an overwhelming majority of overall players did not report playing too much, a slim majority of players who used unlicensed sites said that they did.

47% of players who used unlicensed sites found them via web searches. 31% of players either found them through advertising, or by tips from friends.

Better odds and winning opportunities were the most common reason people sought out unlicensed sites, with 25% of such players citing this as a reason. Meanwhile, just under 20% were looking to circumvent the SEK5000 deposit limit, which has proved to be very unpopular within the industry.

Lottery games proved to be the most popular type of unlicensed gambling, being the game of choice for 60% of those who play at least once a quarter. Horse racing and non-horse racing sports were the next most common with 36% each.

20% of those surveyed preferred casinos games such as slots, 11% favoured bingo and 7% chose poker.

Research conducted by Spelinspektionen earlier this year found licenced websites were lacking in terms of providing sufficient responsible gambling information.