Frequent gamblers opt for Super 5, survey shows

While gambling and sports betting lack popularity among the Maltese, those who like to bet their money tend to be older and hail from the Southern Harbour, with their preferred game being the Super 5.

A survey commissioned by ILLUM and carried out by Polar Surveys shows that men gamble more than women, and seniors gamble more than younger age groups.

However, the majority of the people do not play money or do not don't cut out playing tickets that involve money.

The Super 5 lottery is Malta's most popular game, played by 31.3% of the population and most popular among participants from the Southern Harbour district. The second most popular game, with 9.7% of the population playing it, is Il-Lottu.

A more recent phenomena, online games are the third most popular gambling game of choice, but remains far back in comparison to the Super 5 and Il-Lottu with only 0.4% opting for online casinos.

Even sports betting lacks popularity, with only 0.6% saying to play it.

In terms of gender, while 33.7% of men like to play the Super 5, 28.9% of women enjoy the same. This trend is similarly found in bingo games, which is the preferred betting game for 11.8% of men and for 7.7% of women.

Older people are more likely to engage in gambling - especially those between 51 and 65 years of age. In fact, 33.3% of those aged between 51 and 65 years like to play the Super 5, while this figure falls to 29.6% of people in the 18-35 age group.

Il-Lottu has largely failed to catch popularity with younger and middle-aged groups, so much so that only 3.2% of those aged 18 to 35 play the game. In the 35-50 age group, only 8.2% said that they play il-Lottu.

For comparison, almost 15% of those above 65 years of age report playing bingo, the number falling to 13.7% among those aged between 51 and 65.

Respondents in the Southern Harbour district are most likely to play the Super 5, while il-Lottu is the preferred option in the Northern Harbour. Within the Southern Harbour, 43.7% responded that they play the Super 5, while 49.4% said that they do not gamble or play betting games.

On the other hand, participants in the Northern Harbour are more likely to play bingo, at 16.8% of respondents.

In terms of educational background, those with a secondary level of education where most likely to gamble. From respondents coming from this background, 14.8% mentioned playing il-Lottu and 35.6% said they play the Super 5, while 48.1% said that they  do not play.

Those with a primary and tertiary levels of education play significantly less, with 69.6% and 66.4% respectively stating that they don’t play.