It is a well-known fact that pokies are the most popular form of gambling in Australia – but it’s difficult to estimate by how much. A new study by Roy Morgan Research delves into the issue, and reveals that pokies account for more of the gambling spending in Australia. From April 2013 to March 2014, Australian punters spent $16.3 billion on pokies.

Of that spending, players spent $9.8 billion on pokies, which dwarfs spending in all other categories of gambling across the country. Pokie spending tripled race-betting spending, as players spent just $2.5 billion on this popular gambling activity. The sale of lottery tickets fell just behind with players spending $1.7 billion. The remainder of the spending was made up by sports betting, casino table games, keno and scratch cards.

$0.9 billion was spent on sports betting, which accounted for 5% of all gambling activity. $0.6 billion was spent on casino table games, which made up 4%. Keno made up 3% with $0.5 billion and scratch tickets accounted for 2% of gambling spending with $0.3 billion. “Despite losing popularity over the past decade, poker machines still generate the bulk of revenue from gambling in Australia,” says Jane Ianello of Roy Morgan Research.

“This makes sense, as half of poker machine players qualify as heavy gamblers, compared to one in five gamblers overall”. The company’s Helix Personas profiling tool can offer some insight into pokie spending trends across Australia. For example, the Battlers personas are more likely to have played pokies than other groups – 31% compared to 18%.

According to Roy Morgan Research, Battlers is a group that includes struggling young families, single mothers and retirees. Many of these individuals play pokies into hopes of earning a generous payday that will help to set them on the right financial path.

To view the full report, visit: http://roymorgan.com/~/media/Files/Findings%20PDF/2014/June/5627-GamblingSpendPie.pdf.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.