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We developed a typology of sports gamblers based on the Scale of Assessing Problem Gambling and then to describe the clusters we identified according to the demographic and behavioral characteristics of each. Participants (N = 4,980) were Chinese sports lottery players selected using a multistage sampling procedure. All participants completed the survey. Through cluster analyses, we identified 5 distinctive clusters of sports gamblers: casual players, escalated players, at-risk players, compulsive players, and problem players. A profiling analysis revealed that these 5 clusters differed in both terms of demographic and behavioral characteristics. This typology of sports gamblers provides diagnostic information that can be used by regulatory institutions to develop relevant intervention programs.
Keywords: problem gambling, profiling, cluster analysis, sports gambling, Chinese sports lottery.
After the new China was established in 1949, games of chance were strictly prohibited in China for many years. In 1987, however, national lotteries were reintroduced and, in the past 25 years, the lottery market has become highly developed as a result of the rapid growth of the Chinese economy. Statistics released by the World Lottery Association at the end of 2011 indicated that globally lottery sales increased steadily by 6.3%, yet the rate of increase in China was much higher, reaching 25.5%. In 2011 and 2012, the increases in lottery sales in China relative to the preceding year were 33% and 18%, respectively, indicating that one of the most significant portions of the world lottery market is in China (China Sports Lottery Administration Center, 2011, 2013).
National lotteries offer a legal outlet for gamblers. They also play a positive role in the economic development of a country by generating tax income, facilitating the development of related industries, and stimulating consumption. For example, in the USA sports gambling attracts approximately 30 million tourists to Nevada per year and provides thousands of employment opportunities. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the 2007 Super Bowl weekend spurred nongaming economic growth worth US$109.5 million by attracting 287,000 visitors to Las Vegas (American Gaming Association, 2009). Between October 2010 and September 2011, there were 55,619 employees in sports gambling in the United Kingdom (Gambling Commission, 2013). The Hong Kong Jockey Club was Hong Kong's biggest independent taxpayer, contributing more than HK$19.5 billion (US$2.52...