A large chunk of the British public loves placing a bet. As the proliferation of online betting companies became a real thing, more and more people chose to have multiple betting accounts. Indeed, it is something that a lot of people actively encourage, given that it allows bettors to compare and contrast the odds of different gambling companies in order to ensure that they get the best possible ones on offer. On top of that, it also allows people to take advantage of the different promotions that are put in place by betting companies.
The flip side of this, of course, is that it means that it is becoming more and more likely that people are going to develop a problem with gambling. The more accounts you have access to, the more likely it is that you’re going to place a bet from one minute to the next, regardless of whether you actually want to be placing bets. In 2020, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission carried out a survey which discovered that the average number of accounts held by people that had at least one was 3.2, up from 2.7 the year before, so is it an increasing problem?
The Average Number Of Betting Accounts
Year | Average Number Of Betting Accounts Held | Average Number of Accounts Gambled With On A Monthly Basis | Average Number Of Accounts Gambled With In Previous 12 Months |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 1.5 |
2019 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 1.4 |
2018 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 1.3 |
2017 | 2.8 | 2.0 | 1.4 |
2016 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 1.5 |
In 2020, a report by the Gambling Commission confirmed that, on average, people have about three betting accounts to their name. That figure of about three has remained steady over the previous four years, having been at exactly three in 2016. It had, however, increased year on year from a low of 2.7 in 2018. The information becomes a little more confusing when you begin to look at how often the people actually used their accounts in the previous 12 months and so on. The table above look at the information that the UKGC gathered.
As you can see, the number of accounts used on a monthly basis has decreased a very small amount between 2016 and 2020, but the average number go accounts used in general in the past year was the same in 2020 as it was four years earlier. This is a clear sign that people like to have several accounts and are inclined to use two of them, favouring one over the other.
What Is The Split By Gender & Age?
What? | Average Number Of Betting Accounts Held | Average Number of Accounts Gambled With On A Monthly Basis | Average Number Of Accounts Gambled With In Previous 12 Months |
---|---|---|---|
All Respondents | 3.2 | 1.5 | 2.1 |
Male | 3.6 | 1.6 | 2.3 |
Female | 2.8 | 1.3 | 1.8 |
18-24-Year-Olds | 4.7 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
25-34-Year-Olds | 3.8 | 1.6 | 2.3 |
43-44-Year-Olds | 3.9 | 1.7 | 2.5 |
45-54-Year-Olds | 3.1 | 1.5 | 2.1 |
55-64-Year-Olds | 2.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 |
65-Year-Olds & Over | 1.7 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
As you might imagine, the Gambling Commission wasn’t sluggish in its information gathering. Instead, the governing body for betting in the UK was able to break down whether men were more inclined to place bets than women and how many accounts people had according to their age. The table above looks at how that information breaks down.
As you can see, men are much more likely to gamble than women and those aged between 18 and 24 are the most likely to have several different betting account. As people grow older, they are less likely to have several different accounts, but are still likely to have at least one that they use on a monthly basis.
Why People Have More Than One Account
There are numerous reasons why people choose to have more than one betting account open at any given moment. The reality is that different bookmakers offer different things, even though it can seem as though they’re all much of a muchness. Some bookies are excellent when it comes to In-Play betting, for example, whilst others have brilliant Live Streaming capabilities. Some act like they’re one-stop-shops, promising excellent sportsbook usage alongside an all-encompassing casino, with bingo and live poker.
Mainly, though, the chief reason why people have more than one betting site account is in order to be able to take advantage of the offers and promotions that are put forward. Whilst it is always good to be able to take the best odds on offer, or to bet with a bookie that specialises in a certain sport, most of the time people open accounts with several different companies in order to be able to ensure that they get the free bets and other such promotions that are offered by them on a regular basis, taking advantage when they can.
Will New Gambling Laws Make A Difference?
In recent times, the government has suggested that it will take a serious look at gambling legislation. Given that all forms of gambling in the United Kingdom are dictated according to the Gambling Act of 2005, that is clearly not a bad thing. The Act was brought in before the time of smart phones and tablets, before In-Play betting was a popular activity and prior to the proliferation of gambling sites online. As a result, it is an analogue Act being used to control companies in a decidedly digital age and isn’t fit for purpose.
The planned changes to the gambling industry will almost certainly result in a lessening of the number of betting accounts used by people. There are numerous reasons for this, but one of the main ones is the plan to introduce more stringent affordability checks for punters before they’ll be allowed to open a betting account. This will likely mean that a lot of people will not want to open more than one account, in order to avoid the rigmarole that is involved in going through said affordability checks every time they want to open one.
If you were to need to prove that you can afford to gamble every time you open an account, you’d need to offer things such as your payslips or access to your bank account just to be able to place a bet. Whilst the government might well feel that it has a ‘moral obligation’ to limit the damage done by gambling addiction, if it causes an inconvenience to users then many will just not bother. Critics of the gambling industry might well feel as though this is a good thing, but when you consider how much money gambling brings the government each year, ministers might not agree.
Changes Encourage Multiple Account Usage?
The one thing that might be an unintended consequence of the changes that the government is toying with bringing in is that they might actually encourage users to have more than one account. If every betting company is forced to introduce deposit limits, for example, then those that wish to bet large sums on a regular basis might well consider opening several different betting accounts in order to allow them to do so. The same can be said of stake limits, time limits on playing games and loss limits.
If you don’t want to be restricted in how much you can bet and how regularly you can bet it, one of the easiest things to do is just to have multiple accounts. When a time limit is forced upon you with one betting site, you simple switch to another. If you’re willing to put up with the more stringent affordability checks, you can just move to have several different betting accounts that will allow you to do as you wish, when you wish. This isn’t the idea behind the moves being made by the government but might be what happens anyway.