According to a recent survey of 3208 people, 7% reported playing on an online casino site without a Swedish gaming license, an increase from the previous survey’s 3%.
It is worth noting that customers’ knowledge of whether sites are licensed may impact the accuracy of these figures. Although the majority of players claimed to use licensed channels, 12% were unsure if they played on an unlicensed site.
Interestingly, players who used unlicensed sites were more likely to admit that their gaming increased during the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the respondents who claimed to play on unlicensed sites at least once a quarter (32% of the total), 19% reported an increase in their gaming habits compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Additionally, 10% of players acknowledged that they had played too much in the last three months, with a higher proportion of unlicensed site users reporting this issue.
A significant number of players who used unlicensed sites (47%) found them through web searches, while 31% discovered them via advertising or recommendations from friends.
The main reasons cited for seeking out unlicensed sites were better odds and winning opportunities (25% of respondents) and bypassing the SEK5000 deposit limit, which has faced industry-wide criticism (just under 20% of respondents).
Among those who play at least once a quarter on unlicensed sites, lottery games were the most popular (60%), followed by horse racing and non-horse racing sports (36% each).
In terms of specific casino games, 20% preferred slots, 11% favored bingo, and 7% chose poker.
A separate research conducted by Spelinspektionen earlier this year highlighted that licensed websites lacked sufficient information related to responsible gambling.
