Players in the Philippines are unaware that they are connecting and playing at unregulated websites, or at least websites that are not licensed within the country, a new report by The Fourth Wall, an analytics firm, revealed.
To reach these conclusions, The Fourth Wall has contacted 400 online gamblers in Metro Davao, Metro Cebu, and Mega Manila, and interviewed them about their gambling habits. The majority of players – 55% - said that they were unaware of any legal consequences for engaging with unlicensed gambling websites, and 33% said that they understood "a little."
Filipino players are unaware of the legal dangers of playing offshore
Only 12% said that they understood the current regulatory framework, implying that they were aware that the websites they had engaged with were not legal under the country’s laws. But it’s more complicated than legal versus legal, argues John Brylle L. Bae, who is research director at The Fourth Wall.
"Confidence, fairness, and perceived profitability matter more than platform features. This explains why players, despite uncertainty and uneasiness, continue to engage with unregulated platforms as long as they perceive a chance to win," he explained.
Unregulated platforms, i.e., not regulated under PAGCOR’s statutes, tend to attract more players, the research argues, and the average size of the bet is also higher. However, this comes at a cost, with the accumulated losses at such offshore venues also higher by default.
Interestingly, The Fourth Wall has delved a step further, analyzing the types of people that play and outlining four major archetypes. There are the "high-stakes losers," who account for 44% of all players.
Players acknowledge issues with offshore gambling websites
The second biggest group is the "perceived winners" or 28%. This group, as its moniker suggests, believes that it has won more than it has lost. A crop of players are "casual break-even players" or 17% of the total, who tend to be recreational players who do not gamble very often, and usually place very small stakes to begin with.
The Fourth Wall also set out to explore what drove and motivated player behavior in these cases, explaining that despite the higher risks carried by unregulated websites, players were drawn to the variety offered at such venues, along with faster payments and other gameplay features.
However, players were not completely unaware of the dangers such practices entail. 65% said that they never saw any commitment to fairness in terms of available certifications on the website they visited, and many reported issues with customer service, as well as lingering complaints that remained unanswered.
Despite these challenges and apparent dangers to players, most people are happy to continue gambling all the same.
Image credit: Unsplash.com
