Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered the world into unforeseen circumstances, prompting the authorities to impose restrictions and cut back various events including many gambling avenues. Professional sports have been postponed, land casinos are closed, and social distancing has shut home games down. The present narrative overview has addressed the following changes in gambling behavior since the start of the pandemic: - a) Change in the number of gamblers and intensity of gambling b) differences among various types of gambling modalities (land-based, horse betting, casino, online). and transitioning between them. c) Psychosocial effects on gamblers owing to the shutdown of gambling avenues in the early phase of COVID-19 lockdown. It alludes to several survey studies conducted so far in Northern Europe (Sweden, UK, Italy), North America (Canada, USA), and Australia on the potential impact of the SARS-Cov2 pandemic on gambling figures. Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scale is used by most of the studies to demonstrate the severity among gamblers i.e., low-risk, high-risk, and problem gamblers respectively. The majority of studies are based on self-reported questionnaires, few tracked data from online gambling operators, and one study used revenue-based taxation of land-based and online gambling as its information source. The decline in the overall gambling activity attributable to the situational changes was predominant in a majority of surveys. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gambling is diverse – possibly causing a reduction in current or future problems in some, but also promoting increased problematic gambling in others.

摘要

COVID-19 大流行使世界陷入了无法预料的境地，促使当局施加限制并减少包括许多赌博途径在内的各种活动。职业运动被推迟，陆地赌场被关闭，社交距离让主场比赛停止。本叙述性概述讨论了自大流行开始以来赌博行为的以下变化： - a) 赌徒数量和赌博强度的变化 b) 各种赌博方式（陆上、马博彩、赌场）之间的差异， 在线的）。并在它们之间转换。c) 由于在 COVID-19 锁定的早期阶段关闭赌博渠道，对赌徒的心理社会影响。它提到了迄今为​​止在北欧（瑞典、英国、意大利）、北美（加拿大、美国）进行的几项调查研究，和澳大利亚关于 SARS-Cov2 大流行对赌博数据的潜在影响。大多数研究使用问题赌博严重性指数（PGSI）量表来证明赌徒的严重程度，即分别为低风险、高风险和问题赌徒。大多数研究基于自我报告的问卷调查，很少有来自在线赌博运营商的跟踪数据，一项研究使用基于收入的土地和在线赌博税收作为其信息来源。在大多数调查中，由于形势变化导致的整体赌博活动下降占主导地位。COVID-19 大流行对赌博的影响是多种多样的——可能会导致某些人当前或未来的问题减少，但也会促进其他人的问题赌博增加。