Lotto alarm: 4 million euros in the jackpot - the focus!

gambling behavior in Germany

The Gambling Survey 2023, carried out by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Addiction and Drug Research (ISD) and the University of Bremen, shows interesting insights on German gambling behavior. Between August 1 and October 16, 2023, 12,308 telephone and online interviews were led, funded by the German Lotto and Totoblock (DLTB). According to the survey, 36.5 %of the participants stated that they had taken part in games of chance in the past 12 months, with the proportion of men (40.4 %) higher than in women (32.7 %). However, a significant part of the respondents (63.5 %) did not take part in gambling.

Among the games of chance shows that the age group of 56-70-year-olds in particular has the highest participation rate with 41.2 %. In addition, the survey shows that 29.8 % of people with a migration background run gambling, while the proportion of people without a migration background is 38.7 %. It is also striking that 12.2 % of the respondents play at least once a week and only take part in a kind of gambling.

problematic play behavior and protective devices

According to the results, 2.4 % of the population show signs of gaming disorder, whereby men are significantly more often affected than women. Gambling disorders are particularly widespread among players of Internet machines and live sports betting. 80.8 % of the respondents are aware of the risks of gambling, and 89.5 % are in favor of a ban on participation for minors.

The gambling supervisory authorities of the federal states, including the GGL, regularly publish annual reports for the analysis of the German gaming market. These reports provide an overview of allowed and unauthorized gambling segments. As part of these reports, the study is also carried out to evaluate the Gaming State Treaty, which was awarded to the University of Bremen in July 2023.

From November 1, 2023, the Lotto 6aus49 will no longer have a compulsory distribution, and the maximum jackpot will be limited to 50 million euros in profit class 1. This new set of rules may help to maintain the integrity of the game and to promote responsible games.

For those affected by gambling addiction, advice centers are available that can be reached via the addiction aid directory of the German Center for Addiction questions. The study on gambling promotion, which will be started in December 2023, aims to investigate the effects of the provisions of the Game State Treaty.

It remains to be seen how the changes in gambling rights affect the game behavior of Germans and whether the efforts to protect the player will be successful.