In Which Countries Is Gambling More Popular?

Gambling may be the most common hobby in the world. No matter the country, casino games and sports betting are always the most popular activities. (In this context, remember that by reading the best online casino reviews, you can find the site that suits you best.) However, gambling is a much more popular activity in some countries due to both local culture and legal background. So, which are these countries? We will answer this question below.

United Kingdom

We can say that England is the center of legal gambling in Europe. Horse racing is the most popular sports bet in the country and has been played for nearly three hundred years. (There are even historical records of horse races and bets placed on them in 1539.) Contrary to popular belief, most of the casino games originated in Europe, and therefore we can say that Europeans are the world’s greatest gamblers. And the United Kingdom is the “gathering place” of all these players.

Bingo houses, land-based/online casinos, and Tote pool betting are other popular forms of gambling in the country. The United Kingdom Gambling Commission oversees and licenses all forms of gambling. In this respect, it has very strict criteria, and the UKGC license is considered the most prestigious gambling license in the world for the same reason. According to official reports, the total gross gambling yield (GGY) in the country is worth £5.9 billion. There are 9,036 betting shops in England and nearly 2,500 bingo houses/land-based casinos.

Singapore

Asians started to gamble way before Europeans, and this has almost become a cultural habit. This situation does not attract much attention, as Western games (i.e. blackjack, roulette) are generally not preferred, as Asians play games such as dominoes, Teen Patti, and mah-jong. However, these are still within the scope of gambling, and especially the elderly play a different game almost every day. In this regard, Singapore is the country where gambling is most common in Asia. The interesting thing is that there are only 2 land-based casinos in Singapore, and it is quite difficult for local citizens to visit them. Online gambling options are also very limited. Despite this, Singaporeans continue to gamble with incredible intensity. Just to give you an idea, the government-controlled Singapore Pools (a local lottery) is making S$11 million a day. Almost 7 billion Singapore dollars are spent on illegal betting and casino games every year. The average monthly gambling spending in this country ranges from 288 to 387 Singapore dollars. It may not seem like a huge number, but the minimum wage in the country is S$2,140. People gamble up to 15% of their salary every month.

Australia

Australia’s population is about 25 million people, and according to official reports, about 25% of them gamble regularly. According to AGRC (Australian Gambling Research Centre) data, there are approximately 7 million gamblers in the country. Scratch cards and slot machines are the most preferred types of gambling. Sports betting, keno, card games, and bingo are also very popular. (Interestingly, poker is the least popular casino game.) Australians spend too much on gambling. They lose AUD 1,292 each year on slot machines alone. This figure amounts to AUD 1,032 per year for sports betting. Australians call their slot games “pokies” and love them. There are 95,800 slot machines in the country. Just to give you an idea, let’s mention that even Nevada has a total of 181,109 slot machines. Gambling activities mostly take place in the New South Wales region, and there are even those who call it the “Las Vegas of Australia.” Although online casinos are considered illegal, Australians love to gamble.

Canada

Ontario, Quebec, Alberta—if you want to gamble in Canada, you need to visit these provinces. Although gambling is legal in almost every state, these states offer the most options. 75% of Canadians have gambled at least once in their lifetime, and 2% of these people fall into the category of problematic gamblers. The majority of gamblers are men between the ages of 35-50. Canadians love lottery and scratch cards the most. Casino and slot games are other popular forms of gambling. Interestingly, sports betting is not that common: almost everyone prefers to try their luck at the lottery and casino games. 27% of the population plays a certain game regularly (at least once a week). Each state is free to make its own laws regarding gambling, and research shows that everyone is happy with this: 35% of gamers think that gambling should continue to be controlled by the states rather than an independent licensing agency like UKGC. This is interesting because the only thing that prevents international operators from entering the country is the requirement to obtain a separate license from each state. Because no one wants to do this, all gambling services in the country are offered by local governments. Naturally, this means that the quality of service cannot compete with international sites, but it seems that Canadians are not complaining about this.