The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published new findings investigating the relationship between reasons for gambling and different gambling activities. The research forms part of the Commission’s new data on consumer behaviour and references the findings of the Gambling Survey of Great Britain (GSGB).
In 2023, the Commission began data gathering on the GSGB, a new research project sanctioned following two years of pilot tests and dedicated fieldwork. The GSGB seeks to deliver first-of-its-kind insights as the largest survey on gambling behaviours conducted by a regulatory authority, with 20,000 respondents.
In 2024, the Commission published the first GSGB updates, providing insights into gambling behaviours via Wave-1 and Wave-2 datasets. Both datasets showed consistency in gambling participation, with 48% of respondents reporting engagement in any gambling activity in the past four weeks.

GSGB research has enabled the Commission to publish a ‘short report’ on the reasons people give for taking part in gambling and how they relate to different gambling activities. As explained by Helen Bryce, the UKGC’s Head of Statistics: “This first report uses GSGB data to explore the reasons people give for taking part in gambling in much more depth than we had space for in the annual report. It builds on our understanding of the motivations and triggers for gambling, as explored previously through qualitative research undertaken in 2022 about the eight typologies of gambling behaviour.”
Researchers emphasise that a better understanding of the association between motivation and activities is “critical to comprehending both general gambling behaviour and its consequences.”
The reasons given for gambling have been grouped into five broad themes: enhancement, challenge, coping and escapism, social, and money. These themes are associated with different gambling activities.
Motivations for Gambling
The GSGB has used the Reasons for Gambling Questionnaire (RGQ), developed for the British Gambling Prevalence Survey (BGPS) 2010, to investigate the reasons people gave for participating in gambling activities.
The RGQ contains 15 questions aimed at identifying the reasons for gambling across specific activities. Participants who had gambled in the past 12 months were asked how frequently each reason applied to them, with response options of ‘always’, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’, or ‘never’.
The RGQ survey details that the most common reason for gambling is the chance to win big money, referenced by 86% of respondents in the past 12 months and 90% in the past four weeks.
The second most cited reason was because gambling is fun, reported by 70% over the past 12 months and 72% over the past four weeks. A monetary response was again provided as the third most common reason, with 58% of respondents in the past 12 months and 63% in the past four weeks stating they gambled to make money.
The RGQ survey also uncovered several additional motivations, including excitement, which was referenced by 55% of respondents over the past 12 months and 58% over the past four weeks. Furthermore, social dynamics played a role, with 35% of respondents stating they gambled with family and friends, while 24% viewed gambling as a sociable activity.
The least common motivations included impressing others (8%), competing with others (8%), and relieving tension (11%). These findings were consistent with those observed in the British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010, suggesting stable gambling motivations over time.
Distinctions applied to gambling motivations
As mentioned above, the RGQ findings were categorised into five broad themes: enhancement, challenge, coping and escapism, social, and monetary.
This categorisation provided a structured approach to analysing gambling motivations. By applying the segment, research uncovered underlying psychological and social themes influencing gambling decisions, offering a deeper understanding of the motivations provided.
The enhancement (enjoyment) category includes individuals who gamble primarily for enjoyment, excitement, and personal satisfaction. Gambling is most strongly associated with having fun (0.76) and excitement (0.75), reinforcing its role as an entertaining activity.
A sense of achievement from winning (0.65) also contributes to this motivation, as does engaging in gambling as a hobby or pastime (0.52).
The mental challenge of learning a game or strategy (0.50) further supports this category. These motivations suggest that, for many, gambling serves as a recreational pursuit driven by positive emotions and internal enjoyment.
The coping or escapism category represents those who use gambling as a way to manage stress, boredom, or negative emotions. Gambling as a means to relax (0.70), escape boredom (0.77), or relieve tension (0.74) indicates that some individuals turn to gambling as a distraction or relief from everyday pressures.
While occasional use for relaxation may not be harmful, consistently gambling to cope with negative emotions could indicate an unhealthy dependency, potentially increasing the risk of problematic behaviours.
As anticipated monetary category includes individuals who gamble primarily for financial reasons, focusing on potential winnings rather than entertainment. The strongest motivations in this category are the chance to win big money (0.83) and gambling to make money (0.80). Data suggests that some view gambling as a financial opportunity rather than a leisure activity. However, this motivation carries inherent risks, as the expectation of financial gain can lead to increased gambling frequency, potential financial losses, and problem gambling behaviours.
Overall, these findings illustrate the diverse motivations behind gambling. While enhancement-driven gambling tends to be recreational, coping-related gambling may signal underlying emotional concerns, and monetary-focused gambling presents financial risks that could lead to problematic behaviour.
UKGC: Player motivations are never one-dimensional
Further research segments examine differences by gambling activity and key motivators for gambling activities. The study concludes that in-person activities were more likely to have social motives.
In the segment, bingo and casino games played in person were particularly associated with social motivations, whereas this was not the case for placing bets, whether on sports or other outcomes.
This is likely because in-person sports betting includes both placing bets at bookmakers and attending race meets. If it were possible to separate out the latter, there could potentially be an association with social reasons. Similarly, placing bets on event outcomes in person would typically occur at bookmakers, which may explain the absence of strong social motivations.
Signing off the research, Helen Bryce noted: “The level of data in GSGB enables us to dig down from the toplines and show how much these reasons vary according to the activity that someone is taking part in and the way they are doing it – either in person or online. The results are a great example of why it is important not to simply look at ‘gambling’ in a one-dimensional way. We would like to expand this type of analysis in the future to build on our understanding of how reasons to gamble may also vary according to player demographics.”
This is the first of two deep-dive reports to be released from the GSGB. The second report will explore the relationship between gambling activities and Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scores, building on the relative difference analysis included in the GSGB Annual Report (2023) published last summer. It will take into account factors such as the number of activities someone participates in and demographic variables. This report is expected to be published next week.