Gambling is Denmark’s Weekend Delight

With the prevalence of safer gambling protocols and the hands-on nature of Gambling Authority’s, we have a lot more insight into the gambling preferences of various markets.

A recent report by Spillemyndigheden (DGA), Denmark’s gambling oversight body, delved into the everyday gambling habits of local players.

The report specifically focused on discerning what types of gambling Danes enjoy over the weekend, what they prefer during the week and what time of day they are most likely to be found gambling.

 Weekend Entertainment

Using an extensive data set that covers the daily gambling activities of Danish players from 2014 up to 2020 the DGA created the table below that shows what percentage of wagering takes place on which days:

It is interesting to see that while Danish gamblers are active on slots and other casino games of chance during the week their focus shifts dramatically over the weekends.

The report highlights the fact that 40% of total gambling wagers are placed over Saturday and Sunday, with Saturday consistently claiming the lion’s share of wagers ranging from 22% up to 29% of total bets placed.

This is due to the fact that Denmark has a rich history of sports betting which sees local football matches, which are played on Saturday and Sunday, garner massive support from the betting community.

 Payday is Play Day

There is however one time of the month when this pattern can be seen to be disrupted and this is when payday in Denmark falls over the weekend.

The DGA report showed a clear shift towards slots and other casino games at land-based venues such as restaurants and gambling arcades from the 28th of each month. This is because unlike other markets where payday falls on the 25th in Denmark salaries are paid on the 28th.

In general land-based gambling tends to occur on a Friday with 14% of all wagers being placed on this day across the duration of the report. It was also interesting to see that when playing these gaming machines, the peak activity period is between 3 pm and 4 pm which correlates with the fact that Danish employees average a 37-hour workweek.