Survey shows over 87% of online casino players gamble during Christmas to relax
Casino Life & Business Magazine is the only media partner from Romania of Casino Guru
To find out how the Christmas season influences the behavior of online casino gamblers, Casino Guru, a leading authority in online gaming with the largest database of online casinos, has created a special Christmas survey sent out to the members of Casino Guru Community via newsletter. The survey, which was completed by 173 people, yielded some intriguing results.
The Christmas survey was conducted from December 5 to December12, 2024, as part of Casino Guru’s projects and initiatives to improve the standards and safety in the online gambling industry. This survey has helped to map player perception of gambling over the pre-holidays period. Casino Guru continues to use this data to cultivate an informed gambling environment.
The survey examined the age, gender, and country of residence of players as well as the reasons why they gambled at casinos over the holidays. It also includes the number and demographics of respondents who gambled over the holidays to earn money for Christmas gifts and the number of people who played more frequently than usual.
According to a GamCare survey conducted last year, half of those who engage in harmful gambling are more likely to experience anxiety or depression in the lead-up to Christmas. Casino Guru decided to add to these findings, and thanks to their biggest gambling player community online, they drew the data from a substantial subscriber base.
Closer look at the survey results
Overall, players from 37 countries from age of 18 to 55+ responded to the survey, of which 54.07% were male and 45.93% were female. The findings revealed that gambling during Christmas can be also viewed as a form of relaxation, more specifically by 87.28% of them.
Additionally, 49% of those surveyed spent more money than usual on gambling during the holidays, and about 37.79% of players play online casino games every day. The monthly traffic to the Casino Guru website (around one million visitors) confirms that people are actively interested in gambling. This number has increased by about 34% over the last 12 months.
The interest in online casinos and casino games, specifically in December, may be the result of frequent Christmas promotions and bonuses, which, according to the survey, motivate up to 67.44% of players to gamble. It is important to point out that these seasonal special promotions are not necessarily more profitable for players than regular promotions for the rest of the year.
“Based on the results of our survey, it is safe to say that most people experience financial stress during the holiday season,” says Šimon Vincze, Casino Guru’s Head of Sustainable & Safer Gambling. The data revealed that 61.63% of players admitted to gambling to earn money for Christmas gifts, while the main reason for playing games during Christmas is to win money (59.54%), which outweighs other factors like entertainment (17.34%), a way to decompress (8.09%), or playing games with a Christmas theme (5.78%).
In this context, the findings suggest that men have more realistic expectations of online gambling outcomes than women. As many as 45% of them report that they do not gamble to earn money for Christmas presents.
Even though the results of Casino Guru’s survey are intriguing and representative of the gambling community’s during Christmas, more research is necessary to get the most accurate picture of how gamblers think and behave during the holiday season.
Vincze says: “Informing players and the general public about the potential gambling harm that can result from unsafe or unjust gambling practices continues to be our top priority.” Therefore, Casino Guru has decided to commit to standardized research in the upcoming year 2025 to educate players about gambling and make it safer for everyone.
About Casino Guru
Casino Guru is an online gambling authority and source of information about online casinos. It has the biggest database of online casinos with data-oriented, safety-based reviews, a free dispute mediation service for mistreated players, the biggest online casino community and forum, and much more.
Besides helping players directly, Casino Guru focuses on making the online gambling industry safer for everyone involved by pushing operators to improve their fairness and safety and launching initiatives aimed at sustainable and safer gambling, such as the Global Self-Exclusion Initiative, Casino Guru Academy, or its database of problem gambling help centers.
Survey shows over 87% of online casino players gamble during Christmas to relax
