Offering an auto-play feature likely increases total gambling activity at online slot-machines: preliminary evidence from an interrupted time series experiment at a real-life online casino

Offering an auto-play feature likely increases total gambling activity at online slot-machines: preliminary evidence from an interrupted time series experiment at a real-life online casino

Blog Article

Auto-play is a ubiquitous feature in online casino gambling and virtual slot machines especially, allowing gamblers to initiate spin sequences of pre-set length and value.While theoretical accounts diverge on the hypothesized causal effect on gambling behavior of using the auto-play feature, observational findings show that this feature is used to a higher degree by problem and/or high-intensity gamblers, suggesting that banning this feature may constitute a global responsible gambling measure.Direct, experimental research on causal effects of offering auto-play at online casinos is however lacking.Here, we report the findings of an interrupted time series experiment, conducted at a real-life online casino in Sweden, in simply boho classroom which the auto-play feature was made available during a pre-set duration on 40 online slot machines, deus gorras with 40 matched slots serving as control.Aggregated time series on daily betted amount, spins and net losses were analyzed using a structural Bayesian framework that compared observed developments during the peri-intervention period to modeled counterfactual estimates.

Results suggest that offering an auto-play feature on online casinos likely increases total gambling activity in terms of betted amount (approx.+ 7-9%) and (perhaps) number of spins (approx.+3%) but has no effect on net losses.Limitations of studying auto-play effects on a population-level, as well as the complexities of banning this feature within a complex ecosystem of non-perfect channelization to licensed providers, are discussed, including suggestions for future research.