Who wagers on horse races? A large-scale investigation into the socioeconomic background of online horse bettors in the Finnish market

This paper presents a large-scale investigation into how socioeconomic background predicts participation and level of engagement in the Finnish online horse betting market. Prior studies have mostly relied on self-report surveys or area-based proxies to examine correlations between demographic variables and gambling, which makes their results noisy. We add to this literature by using actual market data on gambling behavior and administrative registry data on individuals’ sociodemographic background. These data include all online horse wagering transactions over one year in a state-sanctioned monopoly market and registry data on the Finnish population aged 18–70 (N = 3,793,245). Beyond standard sociodemographic variables such as age, education, and marital status, we incorporate rarely examined factors, such as personal debt, income by source (earned, investment, social benefits), and partner gambling. The findings using objective data both confirm and refine earlier research. Male gender, single status, primarily earned income, and having a partner who gambles predict greater betting engagement, while student status and having children are negative predictors. Several factors, including age, education, occupation, debt, and social allowances, show divergent associations across participation, frequency, and volume. These results demonstrate the value of combining account and administrative data, distinguishing gambling types, and exploring underused socioeconomic indicators.