Young men increase monthly gambling spending by 115 kroner

Young Danish men are spending more on gambling than before, with average monthly spending rising to 915 kroner, DR reports. Gambling researchers point to exposure through computer games, advertising and social communities as possible explanations.

Figures from Danske Bank show that men aged 18 to 24 spent an average of 915 kroner a month on gambling. That is up from 800 kroner last year, when DR reported on the group’s high gambling spending.

The increase concerns gambling researchers.

Gambling is part of everyday life

Gambling researcher Emil Lundedal-Hammar of the University of Copenhagen told the DR programme K-live that gambling is now found in far more places than before.

“There is a much greater tendency for people to be exposed to many more gambling elements in everyday life in Denmark,” he said.

According to Lundedal-Hammar, people encounter gambling in sports advertising, on public transport, in apps and in computer games.

“It is not just that you might sit and play a little, like playing chess or solitaire. There is also a lottery and a prize, so there is a gambling element in these things,” he said.

From computer games to betting

Some young people encounter gambling long before they turn 18. Noel Henning, 23, told K-live that he was introduced to gambling through Counter-Strike when he was 12.

“Even then, you did not know it was gambling, and then you are simply indoctrinated,” he said.

Lundedal-Hammar highlighted loot boxes, in which players pay for a virtual package without knowing what it contains. He described them as a kind of virtual lucky dip.

“They have these gambling and casino-like elements in games specifically to get people to come back,” he said.

Gambling as a social activity

The researchers said the issue is not limited to advertising and game design. Gambling can also serve a social function among young men.

Gambling researcher Johanne Kirkeby of the University of Copenhagen told K-live that it can help create a sense of community.

“It had a 100 per cent community-building effect,” she said.

According to Kirkeby, gambling can give young people access to a community even when they do not know each other beforehand. It provides shared rules, norms and identities, as well as quick friendships, she said.

That can mean gambling is not necessarily experienced as a problem, but instead as something young people do because “we are young and stupid”.

Changing attitudes

Kirkeby said gambling was more closely associated with shame and loneliness 50 years ago. In some youth communities today, it can even provide social status.

She said the culture needs to change, suggesting that young people should tell each other that gambling is uncool.

A political agreement called “Spilpakke 1” already aims to limit gambling advertising and protect children and young people. Lundedal-Hammar said politicians should take the next step with a possible “Spilpakke 2” addressing gambling-like elements in computer games.