Wagering in Australia: a retrospective behavioural analysis of betting patterns based on player account data

Gambling research often relies on self-report and cross-sectional data which is limited by inaccuracies in recall. Analysis of behavioural data is necessary to advance conceptual understandings of gambling. This paper analysed player account data of 11,394 customers of a large Australian wagering operator over a ten-year period to investigate characteristics and betting patterns of account holders. Comparisons were made between players based on the total number of bets placed. More frequent bettors (those with greater total bet frequency counts), made smaller bets, but bet greater total amounts and lost smaller proportions as compared to less frequent bettors. Less frequent bettors bet larger single bets and lost a greater proportion of their total amounts bet. A minority of bettors accounted for a disproportionately high number of bets but lost the lowest proportion of these. The results indicate that players exhibit differential patterns of betting and subgroups of gamblers can be identified and appropriately targeted with player education and responsible gambling strategies.