A comparison of the status, legal, economic, and psychological characteristics of types of adult male gamblers

Gambling behavior is not a unique behavior. There are certain differences in behavior, gambling habits, gambling beliefs, and their reflection in psychosocial life. We have compared three groups of adult male gamblers—sports gamblers (n = 41), machine gamblers (n = 36), and poker gamblers (n = 35)—in regard to measures of personal status and legal-social characteristics. We found no difference between groups in terms of the length of gambling behavior, personal status, or age. We found no legal difference between groups in terms of the number of court cases for debt, stealing, or family court cases. In terms of economic circumstances, sports gamblers suffered more losses than the other groups (p<0.0001). There were higher rates of bankruptcy among sports gamblers compared with machine gamblers (p<0.01). Sports gamblers were more likely to borrow money from the black market compared with the other groups (p<0.01). In terms of mental health, sports and machine gamblers had more suicidal thoughts and gestures than poker gamblers (p<0.05), whereas the rate of suicide attempts was higher in machine gamblers compared with poker players (p<0.05). Our results indicated higher vulnerability in sports gamblers in terms of economic problems compared with the other groups, whereas machine gamblers had vulnerability to suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts compared with poker gamblers.