Profiling the typical gambler
Harrah's survey is making the headlines... Well I am not surprised that, as reported in the previous post, players are politically active. Most of the players I met has strong opinions about what they like to do and what they consider better for the Country.
I am more surprised to see that 1/4 of WSOP players also play slots. I suppose the "historical" poker players are more likely to go at sports books or BJ tables, so the high percentage seems to come from new players.
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By Liz Benston, verbatim from www.lasvegassun.com
American gamblers tend to earn more per year than nongamblers and tend to be more involved in their local communities, according to a survey from Harrah's Entertainment Inc.
Gamblers also tend to be somewhat more politically active than nongamblers, according to the survey. Twenty-six percent of gamblers said they contributed money to a political candidate or cause compared with 19 percent of nongamblers. Fifty-one percent of gamblers said they have signed a petition in support of a political candidate or cause in the past four years compared with 42 percent of nongamblers. Slightly more gamblers identified themselves as "mostly Democratic" than "mostly Republican."
The company's annual Profile of the American Casino Gambler has grown into more than just a one-time publicity gig for Harrah's, the most geographically diverse casino company in the nation. Casino companies say it is also cited by competitors and pitched as a reliable source of information for elected officials considering whether to legalize gambling in their state.
"Casino gambling is a central feature of political debates in our country and abroad, yet these debates are surprisingly uninformed by facts about casino guests," Harrah's Chief Executive Gary Loveman writes in the survey's introduction. "The preferences, choices and aspirations of American's more than 50 million casino customers are under-reported and misunderstood."
The company added politically tinged questions to this year's survey because of the election year buzz.
"We've known that gamblers are more active vacationers, investors and restaurant and movie-goers" than nongamblers, Loveman said. "With this year's survey we now know that gamblers also are enthusiastic participants in politics and a significant political constituency."
The survey, conducted by Connecticut-based market research firm TNS NFO, is based on questionnaires sent to 3,475 adults nationwide in April.
The median household income of U.S. casino gamblers was $53,204, 16 percent higher than that of nongamblers, the survey found. Seventy-eight percent of casino players own their own homes compared with 71 percent of nongamblers.
Of gamblers, 36 percent said they were connected to religious or spiritual groups compared with 44 percent of nongamblers. Thirty percent of gamblers said they were in volunteer groups compared with 27 percent of nongamblers. Seven percent of gamblers said they were affiliated with political community groups compared with 4 percent of nongamblers.
Casino gamblers are just as likely to attend church at least once a week as nongamblers but nongamblers are more likely report going to church at least twice a week, the survey found. However, 18 percent of gamblers and 19 percent of nongamblers said they never went to church.
The study is similar in scope to an annual survey conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and the Luntz Research Cos. for the American Gaming Association.
The AGA survey has concluded in recent years that about 80 percent of Americans view casino gambling as an acceptable activity for themselves or others and more than 50 million people visit casinos each year.
At the Global Gaming Expo, the premier industry trade show and convention held in Las Vegas last week, executives said casinos can expect to confront at least 30 percent of the population who are opposed to casinos on religious or moral grounds and who sometimes spread "misinformation" about casinos.
The industry still suffers under the perception that gamblers are people who succumb to their addictions and aren't productive members of society, convention speakers said.
Casinos have had difficulty establishing a downside to opposing gambling, even among politicians who depend on donations from casinos, said Terry Wade, a Washington, D.C.-based consultant for the American Gaming Association as well as a variety of industries and nonprofits.
"We've always been the carrot. We've never been able to establish the stick," he said.
The Rev. Tom Grey, a United Methodist and executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, said he expects Harrah's and other companies to use the survey in future attempts to legalize casinos in Maryland, one of several key states nationwide.
Grey, who is addressing a Methodist group in Las Vegas today, said he doesn't think the study will be effective in expanding gambling.
Pennsylvania was the only state to legalize slot machines in the past year in spite of efforts in other states, he said.
He said the studies are proof that the industry "still has an image problem" and that Harrah's is "upset that they're not embraced in the community" like a nongambling business.
"Most politicians don't want to be identified with casinos even still," Grey said. "That's not a vote-getter."
Harrah's spokesman David Strow said a "vast majority of Americans have agreed with us that gaming is a perfectly acceptable activity for themselves or for others."
"Tom Grey just doesn't want to accept that," he said. "We have facts and Tom has rhetoric."
Strow said the company intends to share the information with state lawmakers because it is "a very valid and very solid report."
"Ultimately the decision (to legalize casinos) lies with state lawmakers and we will respect their decision," he said. "However, we will share whatever relevant information we have on the subject."
About 649,000 Nevada residents, or about 40 percent of the gambling-age population, gambled in a casino last year making an average of 24 trips, the survey found. That participation rate was similar to rates in Arizona, California, Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Each of those states save for Rhode Island had hundreds of thousands more gamblers but those gamblers made many fewer trips per year. TNS NFO extrapolated the totals from 67,575 respondents to a survey mailed in 2003.
The Harrah's study also included a separate survey of players polled during the World Series of Poker tournament at Binion's Horseshoe in May, the first year Harrah's has owned the tournament. Ninety-five percent of professional poker players are men and 98 percent of amateur players are men, according to the poll. Sixty-six percent of professional players said a nonsmoking environment makes a great poker room compared with 76 percent of amateurs.
More than half of World Series of Poker players gamble at other casino table games. About a quarter of players also play slots and make sports bets.
The pros said they have played poker for an average of 24 years while amateurs have been playing for an average of 23 years.