Irish Gambling Survey Puts Operator Messages Under the Microscope

About one in seven Irish adults who had gambled in the previous year said their most recent online session followed an operator email, app notification or gambling advertisement. That is one finding in a new Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) study published on 4 November, based on an online survey of 1,000 people who had gambled in the past year.

The report is useful because it asks about the ordinary mechanics around a session: how accounts are opened, what messages arrive, what prompts a bet and whether gambling interrupts work or family time. It is a survey of gamblers rather than a probability sample of every adult in Ireland, so the results describe this group and should not be treated as a census.

Messages are part of the session, not background noise

Four in five respondents had an online gambling account. Among account holders, nearly two-thirds said they received operator emails, 52% received app notifications and 16% received text messages. Around a quarter of those who received app alerts said they got them daily or more often.

The ESRI found that messages and advertisements were one of several prompts reported before a recent online session. Other prompts included reminders of an event, watching sport, boredom or stress. The report also found that one in five online gamblers said their latest session interrupted another activity, most commonly work. These are self-reported associations, not proof that a message caused a person to gamble.

One detail deserves attention from operators and regulators: about 38% of people who first opened an account to bet on horses or sport later used it for other products, including casino games, slots, bingo or scratchcards. The question is whether consent and marketing preferences stay clear when an account moves across product types.

What Ireland’s rules will need to answer

The study arrives as Ireland builds out the framework in the Gambling Regulation Act 2024. The report raises practical issues around how customers agree to marketing, how easily they can stop messages, and whether closing an account or withdrawing money feels as straightforward as registering and depositing. Those are implementation questions; the survey alone does not establish that a particular operator breached a rule.

TopGamb’s guide to gambling ads during live sport looks at how repeated prompts can shape a viewing session. Our guides to loss limits and self-exclusion explain account tools that give a player more control than relying on willpower alone.

The report says roughly one in four respondents were trying or planning to cut down. Willpower was the most commonly named approach, while fewer than one in ten of those trying to reduce play said they used self-exclusion. That does not mean every person who wants to cut back needs a formal exclusion, but it does show why account tools should be easy to find before a difficult session begins.

Our editorial view is that the next useful measure is not simply how many messages an operator sends. It is whether consent is specific, opting out works promptly, and a customer can separate an informational account notice from an invitation to gamble. Ireland’s regulator will have to turn those everyday choices into clear, enforceable expectations.

For readers, a practical first step is to switch off promotional alerts, unsubscribe from marketing and set a deposit or time boundary before opening a gambling app. Keep gambling to an adult entertainment budget. If it is interrupting work, family time or sleep, take a break and contact a support service rather than trying to win back losses.

Sources and support

• ESRI: Patterns of online and in-person gambling in Ireland
• ESRI survey report PDF
• Gambling Regulation Act 2024
• National Council on Problem Gambling: Help and treatment