Since June 2009, players have been getting to know each other on the ‘Introduce yourself to the world’ thread. Our oldest continuously active thread has amassed 1,500 replies and 312,700 views over the 17 years it’s been active, making it one of the most popular on the AskGamblers forum.
It provides users with an opportunity to make connections by introducing themselves to the community. Players will say their name, what games they play and engage in other casual chat while welcoming other new players.
It also features a companion thread, ‘How’d you get into slots? And gambling?’, where users discuss how they entered gambling. From our insights, we learnt just how important these communities are, with the most common answer being friend referrals for games.
- 2/5 users started gambling after a recommendation from a friend.
- 2/5 users began placing bets on sports due to being an existing fan.
- 1/5 users were encouraged to gamble through an incentive or bonus.
- There were three users each who said their first gambling experience was with either poker, slots or sports betting.
- Two users said they started with in-person gambling, like slot machines, before going online.
Most Start From Friend Recommendations or Watching Sports
From the responses in the companion thread, we found that two out of five players made their way into gambling from a friend referral. Users talk about how their friends playing casino games, such as bingo and slots, has encouraged them to give the games a go themselves. Others talk about seeing their friends be successful with sports betting, and how that has prompted them to start making bets themselves.
A further two out of five posters said they got into gambling through watching sports. They talk about being fans of things like football, and how their knowledge of the statistics and predictions for games has led them to place bets.
The remaining forumgoers said they were encouraged to start gambling by an incentive offering a free bet for signing up at a sportsbook. They received an email offering them this free bet and have been gambling ‘regularly to this day’, including moving onto slots.
Here’s how that breaks down:
What Games Do Beginners Like?
There was a relatively even split between the different games those same players mentioned that first got them into gambling. For slots, poker or sports betting, there were three users each who said they were their first games. The other two users said they started out with bingo.
Another common theme was that many respondents started out by gambling offline before making the digital transition. Afi4wins discussed how they started with physical slot machines in ‘amusement arcades’ with ‘real symbols attached to each reel’.
Another user, marius1978, shares these sentiments, replying that ‘these machines were everywhere’ while they were growing up, drawing them into gambling in-person before they went online.
It’s All About Connection
Our introduction thread, where players introduce themselves to the forum and exchange general conversation, shows how much gambling is about connection. We can equally see that in the thread which talks about how people got into gambling, with two out of five doing so from a friend's recommendation.
The connection to physical gambling, such as in-person slots, arcades and bingo halls, is also clear to see. Many users start out by gambling in-person, before they make the move online and discover the huge variety of games available there.
So, after 17 years of players introducing themselves to AskGamblers, we see that regardless of how they get into the world, or their favourite games, it’s the need for community that has led our oldest forum page to remain relevant to players.
