Primary Data Study Reveals Indians’ Online Gambling Preferences
Casino comparison platform SevenJackpots has recently released a primary data-driven study on the trends and preferences of desi real money gamers revealing which are the most popular online casino games in the country and paying special attention to the studios that have produced them.
The research paper is based on 10-months worth of aggregate data on active user sessions and turnovers registered from India between January 1 and October 31, 2022, by the more than 4,000 games at Casino Days – one of the prominent international licensed casinos frequented by desi players.
“Turnovers have substantial granular detail on the performance of a game or a provider as a whole. Provided on a monthly basis, they allow us to review a game’s popularity or the success of a gaming studio in holding player interest beyond an initial wager,” the researchers explain.
Game Shows by Evolution Rule the Field
The analysed datasets reveal a somewhat surprising leader among the casino gaming categories in the country: live casino adaptations of classic TV game shows like the Wheel of Fortune or Deal or No Deal.
Like in many of the other categories, the lion’s share of generated operator turnovers by game shows is reserved for products developed at the Evolution game studio.
Casino game shows are streamed in real time from dedicated studios and feature live game presenters who host the show, conduct the games, and interact with the players.
There are also live gaming elements such as physical money wheels, dice or cards, as well as a variety of RNG elements, animations, augmented reality features and all kinds of other innovative content.
“The revolutionary new genre kept features familiar and appreciated by most players – the real-time excitement of decision-making, the virtual representation of a social event, charismatic hosts, and easy-to-grasp game rules,” the SevenJackpots researchers comment on the strong appeal of game shows.
“Moreover, there has always been a reference to elements of skill, even if there is little or no knowledge involved,” they add.
Roulette, BlackJack, Baccarat, and Slots Full Up the Top 5
The next four most popular casino gaming categories for India are taken by the most iconic casino games familiar from many films and books: roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and slots.
Indian and Asian games like Sic Bo, Andar Bahar, Dragon Tiger, and Teen Patti appear in the lower ranking positions together with Hold’em Poker, filling up the Top 10.
Perhaps the most notable finding from the SevenJackpots study is the prevailing preference towards live formats with live game hosts which “resemble an event rather than a detached experience”.
“In that sense, we had already noted a growing “convergence of tastes” between global casino audiences and Indian players. Even more traditional Asian games that always get plenty of mobile casino traction are mostly sought after in a live studio version,” the authors conclude.
“This allows desi players to enjoy dynamic and original content within familiar game rules. Live dealers or hosts are an essential element of practically every top-ranked game category, save for slots.”
Bans Don’t Work: Data Shows Why
While the tastes of Indian online casino players are “converging” with the tastes of global casino audiences, this is not the case with the regulatory situation.
A growing number of jurisdictions around the world: most European countries, many states in the US, Canada, Latin American countries like Peru and Uruguay, and African countries like Nigeria have opted for national regulation and responsible gambling policies.
India, while working to regulate online gaming that does not involve wagering (as defined by the recent IT Rules amendments 2023) on the national level, is often resorting to blanket bans on the level of states.
Regardless of such bans, internal data by SevenJackpots contained in a recent opinion article on Tamil Nadu published on the platform reveals that the online casino traffic generated from this state, which recently re-enacted a gaming prohibition, has only been increasing for the last two years.
The graph shows that when Indian players are pushed away from legitimate homegrown gaming opportunities, they just find alternative options far from the government’s control, which has hardly been the intent of said government.
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