ESRI finds online betting accounts push Irish punters into faster casino products

The Economic and Social Research Institute published a GRAI-commissioned survey on 4 November 2026 that found 38% of people who opened an online account for horses or sport later used that account to gamble on casino games, slots, bingo or scratchcards. The study surveyed 1,000 adult gamblers in Ireland and was launched by Jim O'Callaghan, Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

Method and headline findings

The report, Patterns of online and in-person gambling in Ireland, was written by Deirdre Robertson, Diarmaid Ó Ceallaigh, Shane Timmons and Pete Lunn of the ESRI's Behavioural Research Unit. The 1,000 respondents were drawn from a market research panel with quotas and weighting for age, gender, region and social grade; people who only bought in-store lottery tickets or scratchcards were excluded. The ESRI reports the following key figures from the survey:

• 77% had gambled online in the past year and 59% had gambled in person.

• 80% of respondents had an open online gambling account; of those, 53% held more than one account and about 10% held four or more.

• Only 6% opened an account to play casino games and 4.5% for slots, yet a further 12% and 9% respectively started on those products after opening the account. Scratchcards rose from 15% as an initial reason to 28% once the account existed.

• Of those who joined for horses or sport, 38% subsequently began betting on casino, slots, bingo or scratchcards.

The report distinguishes these faster-turnaround products as "more immediate" forms of gambling and documents the change in product mix that follows account opening.

Marketing, prompts and sessions

The ESRI measured how often recent online sessions were prompted. Some 62% of account holders receive operator emails and 52% receive app notifications; a quarter of those app notifications arrive at least daily. The survey records that 19% of respondents said watching sport prompted their most recent online session, 9% said an email or app notification did, and 5.5% said an advert did — the ESRI notes this equates to about one in seven recent online sessions being directly preceded by a message or advertisement. For in-person gambling the advert figure was about 3%.

The ESRI also reports that a further 25% of online sessions followed a reminder of an upcoming event that respondents did not identify, which means the proportion of sessions associated with marketing prompts could be higher than the one-in-seven figure when such reminders are included.

Account control, deposits and closures

Respondents reported funds movement and account control were asymmetric. 70% described depositing as "very easy" while 57% said withdrawing was very easy. Almost one in five who tried to close an account reported difficulties doing so. One in four respondents said they were trying or planning to cut back on gambling; among those already trying to cut back, one in three were gambling as much or more than they had a year earlier. Fewer than one in ten of those attempting to cut back used self-exclusion.

Colin O'Gara, head of addiction services at St John of God Hospital, told the Irish Examiner that his patients reported similar difficulties closing accounts.

GRAI response and regulatory context

Anne Marie Caulfield, chief executive of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, said the ESRI research "confirms the need for new obligations which will be placed on licensed operators" and that the GRAI's emphasis will be on "practical and proportionate protections, including marketing standards, effective account controls and self-exclusion arrangements." She gave no timetable for implementation in the joint ESRI–GRAI release dated 4 November 2026.

Remote betting licences under the Gambling Regulation Act commenced on 1 July 2026, and remote betting licensees have been required to close accounts on request since that date. The GRAI's advertising guidance states that the Act's advertising restrictions, including consent and opt-out arrangements for marketing by text and email under section 147, apply "from a date to be confirmed". Applications for gaming licences, which cover the casino and slot products the ESRI finds bettors move into, are scheduled to open during 2027 and 2028.

The ESRI notes the Act could, through licensing or conditions, limit accounts to specific activities and thereby close pathways between product types, but the institute says it first needs to establish whether the observed patterns link to harm.

Harm measurement and outstanding analysis

The ESRI's report does not link the survey findings to problem-gambling scores; the authors indicate that such analysis is planned. Pete Lunn noted the ESRI's earlier work for the GRAI that found one in 30 adults has problem gambling. The report also cites prior ESRI research showing inducements had stronger effects on people with higher problem-gambling scores.

Until the harm analysis and any commencement orders for the remaining provisions arrive, the ESRI concludes its evidence describes behavioural patterns: online accounts widen the range of products people use and, by gamblers' own accounts, make stopping harder. Whether those behavioural patterns lead to new enforceable obligations depends on the forthcoming harm analysis and regulatory commencement decisions.

For reporting on the products mentioned in the ESRI findings see the site casino section; for details of prospective obligations and advertising guidance see the regulation section.

"The research confirms the need for new obligations which will be placed on licensed operators," said Anne Marie Caulfield, chief executive of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland.

The ESRI report and the GRAI joint release are dated 4 November 2026; the remote licences commencement date remains 1 July 2026 and gaming licence applications are expected to open during 2027 and 2028.