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Whether you’re watching a YouTube video, standing at the bus stop or having a drink at the pub–gambling ads follow you everywhere. Last year, the Central Bank of Ireland found that gambling spendings were up 20% compared to the year before. Young people are exposed to gambling more - it takes on a bigger role in people’s night- and social lives and the availability of gambling on your phone poses terrifying risks.
With over 200 betting shops in Dublin and many popular casinos, it is unsurprisingly the front-runner in the country when it comes to gambling. It also plays a big role in the rise of problem gambling, of which an ESRI study found that 1 in 30 Irish people are affected.
I interviewed a worker at a popular Dublin bingo hall with an attached casino to find out more about new gambling trends and if we should be worried.
The casino worker highlights the prevalence of problem gamblers, who will often frequent the casino every day for a month and then never show up again. “I’ll ask my boss, what happened to this guy? And she’ll just be like, oh, he ran out of money. Maybe he tried to steal money from someone and got arrested, or maybe he just doesn’t come back.” While there are self-exclusion schemes at casinos and bingo halls, they require action from problem gamblers themselves, which they often do not take. “I watch a lot of people say, ‘I’m just gonna put this 50 in, play it down and then I’ll go’ and then I watch them put more and more 50s in, because they’re like, ‘I’m so close’.”
Gambling establishments often target financially insecure people, who are hoping to solve their money troubles through a big win. Many bingo halls in Ireland have special offers on the first Tuesday of the month, which is coincidentally the same day that the jobseeker’s benefit is released. Commenting on this phenomenon, the casino worker explains: “It’s our biggest night of the month - we have a higher spend per head on average, and we are told to really drive sales. I think that’s true evil.”
The promotion of gambling to those most vulnerable, both financially insecure people and young people is particularly worrying. Famous Irish influencers such as Nasti_2k and Jonathan Morley, who have almost 2 million followers across platforms, have been found to promote illegal online casinos and sports betting websites to their largely young following. The increase in betting ads during sports games also contributes to higher gambling numbers. A University of Sheffield study found that betting was 24% higher during matches with betting adverts compared with games that did not screen them.
While in-person gambling, like in bingo halls and betting shops (or ‘bookies’) are traditionally frequented by older people, there is a stark increase in gambling for young people. A study at the Institute for Public Health found that 1 in 4 sixteen-year-olds that they surveyed had gambled in the past 12 months. Talking about her young coworkers, the casino worker states: “I thought that working in a gambling establishment would deter people from gambling, but I find that a lot of my coworkers do gamble. They engage in sports betting on their phones or go to the greyhound races.” She also comments on the fact that gambling is often a social activity for older people or pensioners, who might otherwise not leave their house, saying: “If the bingo hall got shut down, there’d be hundreds of women who are now stuck at home,” and “Many men spend all day in the bookies as a social activity. It’s their third space.”
This social aspect is removed, however, when gambling moves to your phone. “You can defend the bookies to an extent with the idea that there’s a face-to-face interaction where someone can go ‘stop’. But online, there’s no regulation at all.” Indeed, there is a huge rise of unlicensed online casinos in Ireland. These do not have the same safeguards in place against addiction, and some have even been found to be total scams, not allowing their customers to deposit their winnings.
There is also a huge link between gambling and nightlife. Alcohol consumption has long been linked to a higher willingness to take risks as well as an increased level of aggression and violence. This does not pair well with the presence and availability of gambling, which is famously risky and can cause intense frustration. The willingness of drunk people to engage in gambling is used by pub owners, who will often outsource slot machines from nearby casinos to put inside of their pubs. The casino worker contends: “Slot machines are a fun activity at the pub for a lot of young people. When drinking and dancing falls short and you want to do something else, some play pool or pinball, and others go to the slot machines. They function like a pool table.” While it might be fun, the Irish Health Research Board found that problem gambling occurs with substance use almost half of the time, the most popular substance being alcohol.
There is some hope though. In 2024, a Gambling Regulation Bill has been passed in the Oireachtas, and its measures are sought to be implemented as soon as it’s signed into law. The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), which has been put in place following the passing of the bill, has announced that it will increase the limitations on gambling advertisements and apply a ban on the showing of gambling between 5.30am and 9.00pm across broadcast and online platforms. This would hopefully lower the exposure of children and young people to gambling and work against the normalisation of gambling in Irish society. But to fully tackle the hold that gambling institutions have on Ireland and Europe in general, more drastic measures must be taken.