Is There a Right Age to Stop (or Start) Playing Online Casino Games?

Because of gambling laws, players have to reach a specific age before they can participate in any casino games. Different jurisdictions have different minimum ages, with the UK’s being 18 for all types of gambling and betting, whether that’s in person or online. In contrast, in the USA, in most states where gambling is legal, a person can’t start playing online until they are 21. In Sweden, players have to be 20 years old to play at a physical casino premises, while interestingly, only requiring to be 18 to gamble online.

Casino games have reached a whole new customer base in the last 20 years or so, thanks to the rapid growth of online platforms. Now the global online casino industry is worth billions, as operators offer hundreds of slots and table games to their customers. If you visit a site like Legalcasino, which reviews operators in detail, you’ll see that in the UK alone there are more than one hundred licensed online casinos. They can be accessed from a computer or a smartphone, giving people the freedom to play wherever it suits them, so it’s no surprise that gambling has become a regular hobby for many. But is there a good age to start and to stop playing at online casinos, given the legal age limits?

The Age Gaps

There have been studies done looking at the different age demographics that gamble online. It’s suggested that older adults (55 years and above) are more likely to participate in all forms of gambling, but when it comes to online gambling specifically, it’s the younger age groups that tend to dominate things. This is because younger players are more comfortable with technology.

Younger people tend to lean more heavily on mobile devices for their gambling, for example, and are the heaviest mobile users in general. Higher-speed games like slots, in particular, typically appeal to younger players more, as they search for higher excitement and engagement from an online casino experience.

From there, middle-aged adults between 35 and 54 are the demographic that plays the most and spends the most. The reasoning behind this is that it’s people with more established careers and incomes, therefore having more disposable income for gambling, which affects the level of play.

When to Start

The legal minimum age is there to protect against underage gambling, but 18 or 21 can actually be quite a tricky age for people to start gambling at online casinos. Yes, it’s an age that will be familiar with mobile devices and will naturally prefer the convenience of online platforms over land-based locations, but people around that age are generally approaching gambling from a position of lower incomes.

Potentially problematically as well, full impulse control has yet to be mastered at 18 or even 21, which can pose a higher risk of problem gambling. Given that slots provide instant results, it can be more difficult for younger players to call it quits on a playing session.

So, pushing the time frame forward a little more to the mid-20s seems a better fit for getting into online gambling. By this stage, people should have a little more financial stability and greater maturity than those at the minimum gambling age. Someone in their mid-20s and onwards is also more likely to stick to a gambling budget than younger players.

The age at which to stop really doesn’t enter the frame, and that’s down to the versatility of online gambling. While older generations now may not be as comfortable with technology as current 20 and 30-year-olds, those who are now in their 20s and 30s will have had a lifetime of technology in their hands by the time they hit retirement, so future elder generations will be better equipped for online gambling.

Finances, Not Age

Online casinos offer something for everyone of legal age, whether that’s fast-paced slots, some thoughtful hands of blackjack or playing the roulette table. The full casino experience can be accessed online, and features like live dealer tables, card games and modern video slots may be preferred by the younger crowd, but that doesn’t stop anyone above 50 years of age, for example, from enjoying the same things. Equally, younger players can still enjoy simple classic-style slot machines and bingo, which are the preferences of the more senior generation of gamblers.

It’s not about how young or how old you are. It’s just down to finding what you like and having sound financial planning to gamble responsibly. All gambling should be budgeted for, with only disposable income being used for that budget, because of the risk of losses involved with all casino games.

 

 

 

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