Abstract
Research on esports activity usually captures it from the perspective of involvement in gaming. This study presents the results of the first research in Poland (N = 438) on esports betting (ESB). ESB is compared to other forms of e-gambling and involvement in pay-to-win games. The aim was to build a predictive model of gambling disorder among people betting on esports. A predictive model of gambling disorder based on ordinal regression was built, including sociodemographic variables, involvement in esports betting, involvement in other Internet activities connected to ESB, as well as psychological variables—motivation to gamble and coping strategies. The results showed that gambling disorder among esports bettors is associated with time spent on one game session, placing other forms of online gambling bets once a week or more often, and paying in pay-to-win games. Gambling disorder was also predicted by escape coping strategies and lower engaged strategies as well as financial and coping motivation to bet on esports results. The results show the crucial role of psychological factors (motivation, coping) in the development of esports betting addiction. Esports betting is an activity associated with both gambling and gaming—involvement in both activities explains the development of ESB addiction. There is a need for further research focused on the specificity of esports betting behavior to discover the direction of links among gaming, gambling, and esports gambling.
Highlights
The gambling market has been relatively stable for decades, based on a finite pool of the main types of gambling available in specific locations
As for the amount of money spent on one esports betting (ESB) session, the respondents most often indicated PLN 10 (27.2%) and PLN 20 (22.1%); 15.5% spent less than PLN 5 and 8.9% PLN 50 for this purpose
The results show that demographic variables are insignificant in pathological gambling (PG) prediction, while all other groups of variables contribute significantly to the prediction
Summary
The gambling market has been relatively stable for decades, based on a finite pool of the main types of gambling available in specific locations (e.g., bars, hippodromes, casinos, and lottery outlets). E-gambling is gambling organized in the Internet space, where a person can participate via devices connected to the network (computer, mobile phone, tablet, etc.). This phenomenon has translated into a noticeable increase and changes in the nature of gambling involvement, which are visible in many countries. The reasons for these changes include anonymity, low cost, and ease of access, additional benefits, interactivity, game speed, and the possibility to play multiple games simultaneously (Barrault & Varescon, 2016; Choir, 2016; Gainsbury et al, 2012; Hing et al, 2016; McCormack et al, 2013). (2021), it is possible to bet on esports bettings, lotteries, and gamble in an online casino
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
