Increasing betting turnover levels with corporate bookmakers and the TABs together with problem gambling are issues that receive a lot of attention in the media - but just how much do punters bet? We reveal all here.

In a market research survey, Aussieraces.com asked 400 punters the following question -

                           ‘How many dollars do you bet each week?’

The respondents included punters of all types including some professionals, semi professionals, those who took their pastime of punting pretty seriously and those who had a more casual approach to their betting. They wagered at a great variety of levels as shown in Table 1 below -

                 Table 1 – How Many Dollars I Bet Each Week

Of the survey sample, 63% wagered up to $200 per week and 37% over $200 per week.

          Table 2 – How Many Dollars I Bet Each Week by Betting Provider

As shown on Table 2, Betfair and William Hill tended to have a larger proportion of high turnover bettors in their account holder mix than did other betting providers especially the TABs.                   

On correlating the number of betting accounts used with betting turnover levels, an interesting pattern emerged –

        Table 3 – Number Of Betting Accounts Relative To Betting Turnover

                              * Combined due to smaller sample sizes

Respondents operating just 1 to 2 betting accounts tended to wager at lower levels. High turnover bettors typically operated between 3 and 5 betting accounts. It appears having any more accounts than this number is often considered to be unnecessary by ‘serious’ bettors.

Those respondents operating 7 to 8 accounts sometimes wagered at relatively low levels. Typical was the respondent who had eight betting accounts and a betting turnover of just $10 per week. It seems probable that bettors such as this open so many betting accounts to take advantage of special offers for new account holders which often come in the form of bonus bets.

Betting Budget

We asked the survey respondents if they agreed with the following statement -

            ’I pretty much have a betting budget that I stick to each week’
 

We also asked survey respondents if they agreed with the following statement -

                                     ’I keep records of all my bets’

41% of respondents (162) agreed with the statement – further evidence that many punters exercise a good degree of control over their wagering.                         

Problem Gambling

We asked the survey respondents if they agreed with the following statement-

                               ’I know someone who bets too much’
 

We also asked survey respondents if they agreed with the following statement -

                  ’On occasions I have bet more than I probably should’

43% of survey respondents (172) agreed with the statement.

More than 4 in every 10 survey respondents therefore admitted that at times they had wagered above their betting budgets or limits and had bet to excess.

              

                                                Aussieraces.com