Baby boomers and seniors the main land gamblers

News on 25 May 2009

The younger generations may dominate Internet wagering, but when it comes to the land industry the silver foxes rule, according to a new survey by specialist US research company Ypartnership commissioned by slot machine manufacturer WMS Industries.
The study found that older people still gamble the most at land casinos, but young players and minorities are [obviously] the future of the industry, and more effort needs to be made to attract this demographic to the tables and slot machines.
Active casino patrons are less patient and feel more time-pressured than ever, the vice president of marketing for WMS, Rob Bone, revealed this week.
“When people have zero tolerance for anything going wrong, it raises the game,” Bone said, explaining the significance of the finding. “It’s important for us to think through the minutiae of what that means.”
2 000 people who had visited a land casino at least once in the past year were surveyed, with 48 percent saying they do not have enough time in general, while 41 percent claimed they do not have enough personal time.
Baby boomers and seniors make up more than 60 percent of all active gamblers, the study found, while minorities make up less than 10 percent – far less than the size of their demographic in the United States would suggest.
Bone said casinos and slot machine makers will have to find ways to attract minorities to casinos in order to grow, and observed that casinos face a tricky transition between older gamblers who make up most of the market and younger patrons who want a different kind of experience in casinos. Bone said that one thing that might help a transition is the fact that gamblers are not as resistant to new technology as is commonly thought.
The survey also showed that most respondents in the sample had Internet access at home.

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