Four in 10 sports bettors move on to other forms of gambling, says report

*** NO REPRODUCTION FEE *** DUBLIN : Embargoed until 12.30pm *** 4/11/2026 : Online gambling is widespread across Ireland: 77per cent of people who gamble do so online with 10 per cent of online gamblers having four or more accounts. Pictured at the launch of a new ESRI report into patterns of gambling in Ireland commissioned by the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland chief executive Anne Marie Caulfield, ESRI research professor Pete Lunn, and GRAI chair Paul Quinn at the launch of the report into patterns of gambling in Ireland. Picture: Conor McCabe

Nearly 40% of people who open an online account to bet on horses or sport go on to other forms of gambling, according to new research by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

These include online slots, referred to as “the crack cocaine of gambling” by an addiction clinician, and other “gamifying” forms of gambling.

The study, commissioned by the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), found that an email, app notification, or gambling ad preceded one in seven gamblers’ most recent session.

The research also indicated there was an "asymmetry" between how easy it is for gamblers to open accounts or deposit money compared to closing them or withdrawing winnings.

A representative sample of 1,000 gamblers were surveyed online about their gambling habits, in findings said to “illuminate the pathways” used by gamblers in Ireland.

Over half of gamblers (54%) who had opened an online account went on to open a second one, for reasons including good odds, easy registration, and promotional offers.

Around 10% of online gamblers had four or more accounts.

One in four online gamblers said they lost “a lot” in their most recent session, compared with 17% of in-person gamblers.

One in seven respondents said their most recent online gambling session directly followed an email, app notification, or gambling advertisement, with a fifth of gamblers saying they received daily notifications.

Gambling displaced other parts of everyday life for some respondents, with one in five online gambling sessions interrupting another activity — work and family time being the most frequently reported.

One in four respondents said they were trying to reduce their gambling or planned to do so; of those already trying to cut back, a third reported that they were gambling the same amount or more than they had a year ago.

Former gambler and Armagh footballer Oisín McConville said accounts being more difficult to close and withdraw money from meant gamblers were more likely to gamble their winnings.

“Someone might get a win and think ‘I might turn things around, I want that money out, I need to pay off a debt’, but that money becomes slow, so what do you do? You gamble it.” 

Prof Pete Lunn, head of the ESRI’s Behavioural Research Unit, said “of course” gambling websites and apps are designed on purpose to make closing a gambling account harder than to open one, as “companies are trying to make money”.

“It’s important that we identify when those aspects of choice architecture, as we call it, cross a line into causing harm, rather than being a legitimate business activity,” he said. 

Colin O’Gara, head of addiction services at St John of God Hospital, said that gambling addictions are “heavily stigmatised” and that there are not enough treatment services in the country.

He said patients had reported difficulties with closing down accounts, and that online slots have been dubbed “the crack cocaine of gambling”.

GRAI chief executive Anne Marie Caulfield said the study was important as the regulator cannot “protect people if we don’t understand how they gamble”.

Referring to prompts through emails and app notifications that gamblers reported receiving, she said: “Gambling is no longer something that people go looking for — increasingly, gambling finds them.” 

The GRAI, which was formally established in March 2025, is in the process of regulating the gambling sector in Ireland, which is worth an estimated €18bn a year.

Ms Caulfield said that 98% of remote betting operators had been licenced to date, with 41 licences issued.

She said that licences for in-person betting would begin from December; the “completely unregulated” gaming market would be included in 2027; and all other forms of gambling would begin to be licenced from 2028.