Hyoun S. (Andrew) Kim

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of
Social Casino Gaming
Hyoun S. (Andrew) Kim
2017 New Horizons Conference
February 21st, 2017

Disclosure of Potential Conflict of Interest
1
This research was funded in part by a grant from the Ontario
Problem Gambling Research Centre. In addition, my research
has been funded by the Alberta Gambling Research Institute,
Gambling Research and Exchange Ontario and the National
Center on Responsible Gaming.

Acknowledgement
2
Dr. Michael Wohl – Carleton University
Samantha Hollingshead – Carleton University
Melissa Salmon – Carleton University
Dr. Rina Gupta – Queen’s University
Dr. Jeffrey Derevensky – McGill University
Gambling Research Exchange Ontario

Outline
3
• Social Casino Games (SCGs)
• The Bad
• The Good
• The Ugly
• Future Directions
• Implications

7
Games on Facebook
Gamehunters.club

Social Networking by the Numbers

13
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Texas Hold Em Slotomania Double Down
NumberofUsersinMillions
Popularity of Social Casino Games
Monthly Weekly Daily
Gambling Games on Facebook

Social Casino Games
15
• Social Casino Games are defined as games found on social
networking sites where the core gameplay is the simulation
of gambling activities.
Gainsbury, Hing, Delfabbro, & King, IGS

Social Casino Games
16
• Operate on a freemium model.
• No-real money wagered, players cannot ‘cash out’**
Gainsbury, Hing, Delfabbro, & King, IGS

Social Casino Games
17
• Operate on a freemium model.
• No-real money wagered, players cannot ‘cash out’**
• Can be played on multiple platforms (pcs, phones, tablets)
SuperData, 2016

Structural Characteristics of Social Casino Games
18
• Look and sound like gambling (Bramley & Gainsbury, 2015)

Structural Characteristics of Social Casino Games
19
• Look and sound like gambling (Bramley & Gainsbury, 2015)
• Algorithms are not based on mathematics
• Dynamic Game Balancing (Rose, 2014)

21
500 Million purchase of
Merged with
90 Million purchase of

At Issue
22
• Possible link between social casino games - gambling
• Does social casino games increase future gambling
behaviour?
• If so, should they be regulated?
• More nuanced examination of social casino games on
gambling might be needed.
• The Bad
• The Ugly
• The Good

Migration
23
Social Casino Gaming Online Gambling

Social Casino Gaming – Gambling Link
24
• Social casino gaming associated with gambling and gambling
problems (Gainsbury, Russell, & Hing, 2014).
• 13% of gamblers engage in social casino games(Gainsbury et al., 2014).
• 68% interested in gambling activities (SuperData 2013).
SuperData, 2016

STUDY 1: PLAY FOR FUN – PAY TO PLAY
FOCUS GROUPS
25
Kim, Wohl, Gupta, & Derevensky, JBA; Kim, Gupta, Wohl, & Derevensky, in prep

Method and Participants
26
Methods: Six Focus groups with social media users (3) and
online gamblers (3)
Participants: 51 University students
- 30 social media users
- 21 online gamblers
Focus Groups:
- Licensed clinical psychologist
- 60-75 minutes

Results
27
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
Social Media Users
Social Media Users: Frequency counts of statements reflected within each theme category

Results
28
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Online Gamblers
Online Gamblers: Frequency counts of statements reflected within each theme category

TRAINING GROUND
29

30
“Facebook is just a place to learn. To learn how to gamble. My
friends started playing on Facebook to learn and now they are
playing on Poker Stars. It starts on Facebook”
“ … it’s a natural progression to start from social casino
games: train, learn… then you realize you are not learning
enough because people are not taking the game seriously, and
then you move onto paying”

PERCEPTION OF SKILL
31

32
“If you can play for free then you want to try it and if you
discover that you are good at it then why not just put some
money and you might win for real”
“ Once you play for fun, they sort of get people into the
gambling, you think okay, this would be great if were real
money, so you try”

MIGRATION
33

34
“ It depends on the person. Some people are more competitive
and are more likely to want to step it up, but some people are
just happy playing for fun”
“You start playing poker with friends and like you move from
that step onto other things. I don’t think you go from
Facebook to gambling. I don’t see that as a gateway at all”

35
“I didn’t understand how I got
from one place to another
place, from playing for fun to
being in trouble”

STUDY 2: PLAY FOR FUN – PAY TO PLAY
LONGITUDINAL ASSESSMENT
36
Kim, Wohl, Salmon, Gupta, & Derevensky, JoGS

Why Might Migration Occur?
• Normalization
37

39
SuperData, 2016

• Normalization
• Distorted perception of
skill/odds
• Enhancement
• Micro-transactions
40Griffiths, WOG; Sevigny, Cloutier, Pelletier, & Ladouceur, CiHB

Micro-transactions
SuperData, 2016

Method and Participants
46
Method: Longitudinal (six month).
Participants: 409 community social casino gamers who have
never gambled online (recruited via Mturk).
Predictors:
- Time spent
- Skill building
- Enhancement
- Microtransactions

26
73
Participants who migrated to
Online Gambling (Six-months)
Gambled Online Did Not Gamble Online
47

Descriptive Characteristic
48
Gender: 17 males, 9 female.
Ethnicity: 25 Caucasian, 1 South Asian (India).
Employment: 20 full-time, 4 part-time, 2 unemployed.
Marital Status: 15 in a relationship, 10 single.
Gambled: 19 yes, 6 no.

49
1.16 1.01 0.69
8.16*
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
TimeSpent Skill-building Enhancement Micro-transactions
OddsRatio
Predictors
Predictors of Migration
Odds Ratio
*p< .01

Who makes micro-transactions?
50Kim, Hollingshead, & Wohl, in press

51
130
58
49
27
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Extend Play Access More Features Chasing Speed up Play
NumberofParticipants
Motivations
Why SCG Users Engage in Micro-Transactions

52Gainsbury, Russell, King, Delfabbro, & Hing, 2016
101
420
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Gambled Not Gambled
Influence of SCGs on Gambling

53Gainsbury, Russell, King, Delfabbro, & Hing, 2016
44.5
9.9
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
% Increased % Decreased
Influence of SCGs on Gambling

STUDY 3: BRIGHT SIDE OF SOCIAL
CASINO GAMES
54Hollingshead, Kim, Wohl, & Derevensky, JGI

BRIGHT SIDE OF SOCIAL CASINO GAMES
55
• Reverse migration
• Positive impacts (e.g., lessened urge to gamble)
(Gainsbury et al., 2015)

Participants and Methods
56
Method: Cross-sectional (self-report)
Participants: 271 gamblers (who also engaged in social casino
games), were recruited from Mturk
Problem Gambling: 140 moderate/disordered gamblers
Measures:
- Motives (adapted from Stewart & Zack, 2008)
- Skill building
- Urge reduction
- Changes in gambling behaviour

Results
57
• Coping:, β = .03, t(127) = .38, p = .70.
• Enhancement: β = -.03, t(127) = -.31, p = .76.
• Social: β = .29, t(127) = 3.32, p = .001.
• Skill-Building: β = .28, t(127) = 3.35, p = .001
• Urge Reduction: β = -.41, t(127) = -5.01, p < .001.

The Ugly
59
• Migration to gambling is not synonymous with harms
• Does SCG lead to Disordered Gambling Behaviours?
• SCG and Video Game Addiction

60
78
56
52
27 47
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Mood Relief Loss of Control Preoccupation Withdrawal Harms
NumberofParticipants
Symptoms
Problematic SCG Use

CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
61

Conclusion
62
• Social casino games influence on gambling is not straight
forward.
• Social casino games may increase or decrease gambling.
 Micro-transactions
 Skill building
 Social motives
 Urge Reduction

Implications
• Regulation?
• Age Verification? 300,000
youths aged 11-16 reported
engaging in social casino
games in the past week (Parke,
Parke, Rigby, & Wardle, 2013)
• Micro-transactions
66

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Hyoun S. (Andrew) Kim

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