Has online betting come to conquer casinos? A comparison between the experience and emotions of online betting vs casinos

ABSTRACT

Undoubtedly, the online market has grown exponentially over the last decade, allowing several activities that were carried out in person to be carried out virtually. Has technology reached the point of perfection, when it comes to replicating face-to-face activities? This article focuses on the analysis of factors that may influence the experience of playing in physical casinos vs. betting on online casinos. The goal is to understand the extent to which technology was able to reproduce this activity and concerning which points does it fail. We also assess which of the two activities players feel most comfortable with, where they spend more money, where they feel like betting more often, among others. To this end, we performed an analysis of articles, a survey (with 100 responses), and seven interviews with regular casino gamblers, which allowed conclusions to be drawn on the theme. Chi-square tests were performed on the survey data, but no statistically significant associations were found. The results of our survey show a slight increase in the need to gamble due to the pandemic, which is in line with previous research. Despite the accessibility of online games, there are factors that lag behind, such as the fact that people have more fun in physical casinos. However, online casinos make people bet more money because they are not so aware of the money they are spending and because they are in the comfort of their home, away from negative looks.