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Are Sports Bettors More Likely to Try Casino Games or Vice Versa?

friends sat on sofa gambling online on various devicesIf you’ve ever been a part of an online casino or sportsbook, then you’ll know that they often try to cross-sell the services they’re providing. In essence, sports bettors are frequently subjected to promotions and rewards relating to casino products, and casino players often offered free bets and sports betting incentives. But do gamblers ever actually proceed with changing the type of betting they are engaging in on the basis of this? How often do casino gamers notice one of those advertisements and navigate to a sports betting section to place a few wagers on different sports teams and/or players?

Do sports bettors frequent casinos more often than casino gamers take a look at the sports betting options? Which of these two outcomes is the more common one? Perhaps there are some gamblers that tend to spend an equal amount of time between two different options. Or is there always a particular gambling product that is preferred? Let’s find out more about the cross-platform gambling options utilised by players, and if there is a more common route taken.

Multiple Betting Options

sports betsYou can look at many online gambling sites today and find that they incorporate multiple different betting options for you to get involved in. An online sportsbook will almost always have a casino game lobby, a poker room, a bingo section, and more for registered users to access and enjoy. This is very common at popular gambling brands, like William Hill or Ladbrokes, for example. And because these sites like to get as much as possible out of their users, they will readily promote different services that are available.

A sports bettor signing up to such a site will be able to use one and the same account for casino gaming, poker gameplay, and so on. There is no necessity to create separate accounts for each different gambling opportunity (as was often the case in the past), making crossover gambling extremely easy.

It is key to note that there are many more sites that operate solely as online casinos than there are that operate solely as online sportsbooks, though. This gives the idea that sports bettors are more likely to engage in casino gameplay than the other way around. And this is quite easy to understand, too. Placing a sports bet or two doesn’t take very long to complete and casino gaming does provide the possibility for a much more sustained level of play, because bets can be placed, and an outcome is delivered within a couple of seconds in most cases.

A casino gamer could potentially look towards placing sports bets when taking a break from spinning slot machines or having cards dealt out to them, for example. However, this would also only take a short time period to complete, and the likelihood is that they would go back to casino games swiftly. It is more likely that a casino slot player would venture into other casino gaming areas if they wanted an alternate experience. Therefore, they would be more likely to play baccarat or roulette, for example.

Some people have questioned whether it is more likely that they will win more money by betting on sporting events. But this is a very specific area to focus on. Some people don’t actually play these casino games specifically to win money. Many of them do it solely for entertainment purposes. Plus, with sports betting, you can up your knowledge of the event(s) you are betting on to potentially give yourself an advantage. With casino games, everything is very much based solely on luck and the random outcome of each game, with all games weighted in favour of the house. Therefore, sports betting does provide you with a better opportunity to win money (if your study bets and look for value).

Gambling Companies Make More From Games

man happy money raining down graphicIf you are a successful sports bettor you will quickly find your account limited.  Betting companies know that with sports odds are never perfect and those that study bets can find positive value and make money from them.  Interestingly, those that have their sports accounts limited will often find they have no such limits in the casino sections.  Why? Because casino games have fixed odds and companies know on average that all people will lose over time and they will make a guaranteed profit.  This is the principle reason why sports bettors are pushed over to games.

You will almost never see a sportsbook these days without some sort of casino attached but it is common to see casino only and bingo only sites.  The reason is it is easier to push a sports bettor to casino than the other way around, plus it is way simpler to run a casino as you simply license ready made games and do not need odds or odds traders.  In effect there is no risk of losing due to an unexpected outcome on a sporting event.  Indeed, even in betting shops games, virtual sports and gaming cabinets have all become common and prior to the £2 stake limit on fixed odds betting terminals in 2019 bookies made most of their money this way.  It is not just something that happens online, anywhere where sports betting id offered people can easily find a way to play games at the same site/venue.

Figures show year after year that most revenue for betting companies comes from remote casino players and this is the reason why people get pushed to these products.  In May 2021 the GGY from remote casino, which is mostly slots, accounted for nearly double that of remote sports betting.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying casino games and slots but ultimately you need to know you are unlikely to win over a long period of time, this is something a lot of sports bettors may not know and they may not be given the information they need to make informed decisions.

External Factors Can Push People to Casino Gameplay

addicted gamblerIn 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many establishments to close their doors during enforced lockdowns. At the same time, many sporting events were cancelled or postponed, leaving sports bettors with very little to place wagers on. As a result, some online gambling sites started to promote their casino options instead. It was a sort of exercise in finding out whether sports bettors would be tempted by casino games as a stand in for the lack of sports bets.

According to an article posted by The Guardian, people were participating in online gambling much more during lockdown than they were before the pandemic hit. Yet with the absence of a multitude of sports to wager on, it was indicated that these gamblers were instead resorting to online casino gameplay. More than half of respondents to a survey done by a Survation Poll, said that they had sustained or increased their level of gambling during the coronavirus lockdowns in the United Kingdom.

Of course, the pandemic created quite the unique situation for people. With less to bet on in terms of sports events, there seemed to be only one other thing to turn to. Poker remained available online, but it’s a game that requires a bit more skill than the average casino game like blackjack or slot machines. And this is likely why there was a bit more of a surge in sports bettors engaging in casino gameplay instead.

That being said, it wasn’t the same in all reports. It was also noted by one study that sports bettors were engaging in online casino games a lot less during the pandemic lockdowns. The study focused on player behaviour pre-pandemic and right after the virus hit. According to the results, online casino activity among sports bettors declined after March 7. This seemed to suggest that no relationship was present between the lack of sports events and an increased frequency and intensity of casino gaming. The authors of that study were given accessed to behavioural tracking data from an unnamed European online gambling operator, featuring users from Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Norway. This data was provided between January 1 to April 30 of 2020.

In essence, not only did players place fewer bets on sports – due to the lack of events – but they also wagered less on casino games, too. Therefore, no conversion of money that would usually be spent on sports bets could be noted where casino games are concerned. Naturally, this focused on players based within the four countries mentioned, which could potentially be very different from the UK and other areas around the globe.

Crossovers from Other Areas

presenter bingoIt’s not only sports betting sites that incorporate casino games for players to access. Bingo platforms also include small casino sections, featuring slots and the occasional group of table games. This allows those engaging in bingo to easily play casino games. Slots tend to feature primarily at the sites because they’re one of the easiest casino games to get the hang of, and with so many themes and ideal special features involved within, they cater to bingo players in a great way.

It’s also the case that bingo sites don’t tend to make huge amounts of money from their players. This is because most bingo games come with low stakes, meaning that if you compare a bingo site to a standard casino site, the revenue will be significantly lower – indeed in the May 2021 stats showed bingo gross gambling yield amounted to £98.1 million whereas for casino that was £1.9 billion. It is the slot games that help to bolster the revenue generated by these sites. Bingo gamers will likely take a break from playing their favourite bingo games and have a few spins of two or three slot games during that time. Therefore, crossover gameplay is expected from such a site, as bingo players are easily catered to in these circumstances.

What about poker, though? Do poker players ever engage in casino games? Or do casino players ever take a venture over to the world of online poker? Well, it could be said that poker is much more of a game that requires a certain skill level, as noted. Whereas standard casino games like slot machines don’t really necessitate such. Players can simply spin reels or bet on a group of roulette numbers with a random outcome occurring every time.

Therefore, it is less likely that poker players will take it upon themselves to access casino games. Why? Because there is no skill involved. And someone who likes a card game of skill is less likely to want to spend their time and money waiting for a random outcome to occur that they have no control over. And that is something that stands to reason, right? If you’re playing poker and you are incorporating a proper strategy and getting the most out of using your brain to assist with deciding on a move, it seems a bit of a drop down to move to spinning the reels of a slot game and just waiting for the outcome.

In a vice versa situation, would a standard casino gamer really be so comfortable in a poker environment? After all, it does require a lot more skill if you want to be the most successful kind of poker player. Would a casino gamer find as much entertainment and enjoyment if they were being dealt poker cards and didn’t really know how to proceed with it all? Probably not.

At the end of the day, people are motivated to gamble by what interests them and stimulates their mind. While all forms of gambling are indeed exactly that – gambling – they’re also all different in terms of what they provide. The process of playing bingo is different to the process of placing a sports bet, which is different to the process of playing a slot game, and so on. And while casino games can vary in the amount of strategy they require (blackjack for example, can see players utilising a strategy more so than slot machine games), they don’t require as much strategy as poker. Then again, bingo is probably the game that requires the least actual mental investment in the game being played. It’s on a par with slot machines, so this is why it is very much believable that bingo players would engage in online slots as well.

At the same time, sports betting requires a bit more strategy from its bettors than casino games do. At least, when it’s done properly. Gamblers should find out all the knowledge that they possibly can about the teams and players they are wagering on to give themselves a higher chance of being a winner. That’s not something that is required if you decide to play a round of video poker, for example.

The Stance is Different from Person-to-Person

playing online casino gamesAs with anything, the types of bettors that choose to engage in sports betting and casino gaming or poker and bingo play, really depends upon the person themselves. While one poker player may love engaging in the simplicity of a few bingo rounds from time-to-time, another may find it to be beneath their level of gameplay. In the same vein, someone who likes the strategic part of sports betting may relish the break from that to spin a few slot machine reels, while another gambler may not enjoy it at all.

People are different in their thoughts and opinions on things, so it is very likely that at least one person has chosen to involve themselves in two, three or more types of gambling at some point. And gambling can have such an influence on things in everyday life, that some players may have taken that even further. Yet there is no specific evidence that has been reported that states a percentage number of players who engage in this or that at a time.

People are motivated to gamble for various reasons, and different types of gambling opportunities will present different appeal to the general public.

While it cannot be guaranteed that sports bettors are more likely to engage in casino games than the other way around, it can be insinuated. This is because of the current findings of sportsbooks to incorporate casino game sections into their sites, while online casinos don’t do so in the other way as often.

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