Spelinspektionen: Only 8% Pick Unlicensed Gambling Operators

The Swedish Gaming Authority, Spelinspektionen, released the results of a new survey that probed into the habits of gamblers in the country.

Spelinspektionen Unveils Details from a New Study

The results of the new study labeled “Do we choose gambling sites with or without a Swedish license?” were released Tuesday. The new white paper collected the responses of just over 4,400 adult people, age 18 or more. Participants in the new study were asked multiple questions regarding their gambling habits. The interviews as part of the recent study were conducted between May and June this year.

According to the recent study, 8% of the Swedes participated in online gambling activities offered from a website without a license. Of that total, only 6% participated in the activity intentionally, while 2% admitted playing with a non-licensed gambling operator in Sweden unintentionally. The results of Spelinspektionen’s recent study confirm that the majority of players would stick to licensed gambling operators. In fact, 55% of the participants in the survey admitted they would select licensed operators because of the safety, security and control. Additionally, 77% of the gamblers admitted they would “absolutely or perhaps refrain” from gambling via an operator without a Swedish gaming license. The new white paper also revealed that 85% of the gamblers were aware of Spelpaus, while 9% admitted to using the self-exclusion website.

Unlicensed Operators Draw Audience with Bonuses, Better Odds

The study also sought to determine how the players were able to find unlicensed gambling operators. Some 36% admitted they heard about it from another player. Another majority of 35% admitted searching for gambling websites on the internet, while 27% saw advertisements of operators without a license.

The gamblers that used a gambling website without a license pointed out that this was because of lucrative bonus offers. This was the response of 32% of those gamblers, while 26% admitted to using unlicensed operators as a method to avoid a gambling exclusion imposed by Spelpaus, the Authority’s free service that excludes individuals from gambling with real money from licensed operators in Sweden. Using unlicensed gambling operators because of better odds and winning opportunities was the response of 25% of the gamblers that selected that method.

Focusing on gambling games, 50% of the participants admitted to playing most of the gambling games via operators with a Swedish license. With that in mind, poker was the only exception identified by the study, considering that 43% of the gamblers admitted to mostly playing poker via operators with a Swedish license.