Party Poker Blog

Shame on me - looks like the uber will have to wait till tomorrow.

Some interesting gambling numbers here to hold you over. The Profile of the American Casino Gambler, from Yahoo Biz::

----

A new national survey demonstrates Americans’ enthusiasm for casino gambling and their desire to experience a broad array of entertainment choices offered by gambling venues in states throughout the country.

Profile of the American Casino Gambler: Harrah’s Survey 2006 reports that Americans made more than 322 million casino trips in 2005 and that 52.8 million Americans age 21 and older (25 percent of the U.S. adult population) visited casinos to gamble at least once during the same year.

On average, gamblers averaged just over six casino visits a year, the study found.

Casino Gambler Demographics

* The median household income of casino gamblers is $56,663 — nearly $8,000 higher than the U.S. household median of $48,997.
* The median age of casino gamblers (46) and gender profile (52 percent female) closely mirrors the profile for the U.S. adult population.
* Casino gamblers are 3 percent more likely than the national average to have pursued a post-high school education (56 percent vs. 53 percent) and 3 percent more likely to be white-collar workers (45 percent vs. 42 percent).

Where Casino Gamblers Live

* California generated the most casino visits (or trips) in 2005 (50,354,152), which represented 16 percent of the national total. The states generating the next highest number of trips were (in order): New York, Illinois, Nevada, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Michigan, Missouri and Louisiana.
* The top eight states in terms of visitation generated more than 10 million casino trips each, and 31 states produced more than 2 million visits in 2005.
* All but five of the states in the West and North Central census regions of the country have casino participation rates exceeding the national average of 25 percent, but only six states in the North East and South were above the national average (participation rate is the percent of adults that gambled in a casino at least once in 2005).
* Sixty-two U.S. Designated Market Areas (DMAs) each generated more than 1 million casino trips in 2005.
* The top DMA for generating casino trips in 2005 was New York City (22,234,034) followed by (in order): Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Diego, Seattle and Sacramento.

Trendsetters

Technology

* More casino gamblers (79 percent) than non-gamblers (65 percent) have a home computer (PC or laptop). Casino gamblers are also more likely to have more than one computer in the home (21 percent vs. 16 percent for non-gamblers).
* Casino gamblers are more likely to own the latest consumer electronics. For example, 18 percent of casino gamblers own MP3 players vs. 10 percent for non-gamblers.
* In 2001, 13 percent of all survey respondents owned a DVD player. In 2005, that number had increased to 59 percent overall, and 71 percent for casino gamblers.

Consumer Purchases

* Casino gamblers tend to spend time researching brands before a major purchase (38 percent vs. 24 percent for non-gamblers) and are more likely to use the Internet as a source of information (casino gamblers 36 percent, non-gamblers 29 percent).
* When deciding on clothing, the “latest fashion” is more important to casino gamblers than non-gamblers (22 percent vs. 15 percent).
* As cars first come on the market, casino gamblers are more likely to be buyers (24 percent) than non-gamblers (18 percent).

Travel

* Casino gamblers are more often asked for advice on where to go on vacation (29 percent) than non-gamblers (21 percent).
* Gamblers are more likely to view the Internet as a good source for travel planning and information (32 percent) than non-gamblers (17 percent).

Food & Beverage/Eating Out

* Casino gamblers more frequently try trendy new foods and beverages (25 percent vs. 16 percent for non-gamblers).
* Gamblers are more likely to try new restaurants than non-gamblers (21 percent vs. 12 percent).
* Gamblers like to experiment with cooking (42 percent vs. 32 percent for non-gamblers).

Personal Finances and Money Management

* Non-gamblers are more likely to rate themselves as “beginners” when it comes to investment decisions (50 percent vs. 44 percent for casino gamblers), while casino gamblers are more likely to indicate that they have intermediate (35 percent vs. 27 percent for non-gamblers) or advanced investment skills (8 percent vs. 6 percent for non-gamblers).
* More casino gamblers said their personal debts were lower than the previous year (21 percent vs. 14 percent for non-gamblers). A greater number of casino gamblers also had higher savings than the previous year (23 percent vs. 16 percent for non-gamblers).

Planning for Retirement (among those not retired)

* More casino gamblers than non-gamblers said they will have enough money to live comfortably during their retirement (46 percent vs. 37 percent).
* Casino gamblers were also more inclined to be looking forward to their retirement years (42 percent vs. 36 percent for non-gamblers).

Using New Technology

* Casino gamblers are more enthusiastic about new technology (”find it exciting and use as much as I can”): 40 percent vs. 29 percent for non-gamblers.
* Casino gamblers are more likely to have used the Internet in the last 30 days for a variety of reasons: Staying in touch by email (51 percent vs. 44 percent for non-gamblers); education for themselves or their children (37 percent vs. 29 percent for non-gamblers); accessing news (40 percent vs. 28 percent for non-gamblers); and playing games alone or with others (28 percent vs. 19 percent non-gamblers).

Home Improvement

* Casino gamblers take great interest in improving their homes and living environments. Fifty-two percent of casino gamblers said they are very interested in furniture and home decoration vs. 41 percent of non-gamblers.
* Among casino gamblers, 47 percent had redecorated their home and 34 percent had remodeled their home in the last five years, versus 35 percent and 24 percent, respectively, for non-gamblers.

Automotive

* When asked about the car they drive most often, casino gamblers are more likely than non-gamblers to have bought the car new (50 percent vs. 44 percent for non-gamblers).
* Cars with model years between 2001 and 2005 are more likely to be a casino gambler’s primary car (50 percent) vs. non-gamblers (35 percent).

Food & Travel

* When asked about their last vacation, casino gamblers were more likely to have taken a domestic trip of 500+ miles (36 percent vs. 31 percent for non-gamblers) or a trip outside the country (20 percent vs. 13 percent for non-gamblers).
* Gamblers are more likely to enjoy regional/national foods, including: Italian (72 percent vs. 61 percent for non-gamblers); Chinese (65 percent vs. 45 percent); Mexican/Tex-Mex (58 percent vs. 54 percent); and Greek/Middle Eastern (25 percent vs. 17 percent).

Values

* Both casino gamblers and non-gamblers were similar in their volunteer participation with social issues, but casino gamblers were more likely to have donated money to a social issue (33 percent vs. 20 percent).
* Casino gamblers were more inclined to view work as a career (58 percent vs. 48 percent for non-gamblers).