Where have all the bonus hunters gone? Or rather, where are they actually from? We have asked Jamie Wall, casino analyst at Gamblizard, who has recently carried out statistical research on the geographical provenance of bonus-hungry players in the United Kingdom. In the following interview, he explained all existing patterns and trends, shedding light on a world, that of bonus hunters, about which very little is said.
What inspired you to research which British city has the most bonus hunters?
Well, the reason is actually very simple. At Gamblizard.com, our goal is to present new bonuses and online casinos to all those players who want to have longer gaming sessions. To do this, however, we need to get to know our users. Who are they? What do they like about gambling? What kind of bonuses are they looking for? For that, we must also work using the tools of quantitative research to find out their age, their gender, and even their geographical provenance. Only by understanding our target audience can we provide the best options in the world of online gambling.
How did you gather the data for this research?
You know, all websites have their own tools, metrics, cookies and so on to analyse traffic. We analysed the data on the bonus hunt pages, focusing this time on which cities had the most active users between 2023 and 2024. In addition, we also sent some questionnaires to our regular users to confirm the results from our quantitative data. As you can see, when we do research, we want the data to be as reliable as possible.
Which city came out on top as the most popular for bonus hunters?
It may come as no surprise, but London turned out to be the city with the highest number of bonus hunters. What surprised us, though, was the percentage. We are talking figures as high as 45.84%! That means that one out of every two bonus hunters in Britain is a Londoner! Now, this of course also depends on the fact that London has a much larger population than the rest of the cities… But it does not have 50% of the UK’s inhabitants alone! It doesn’t even reach 15%!
Were there any other surprising findings in your research?
Definitely! In general, we are always surprised whenever a city that is not particularly big makes it into the top 10. For example, Milton Keynes is sixth with 2.63%, which we definitely did not expect. And then there is Wolverhampton, which is fifth with 2.73%, not so far behind Birmingham, second with 4.41%. But we were also surprised by some absences: Manchester, for example, is not in the top 10, which means that it has a very low bonus hunter-population ratio.
What factors contribute to a city having a high number of bonus hunters?
A certain propensity to gamble may lead to more continuous use of a bonus hunt tracker or consulting sites like ours on an ongoing basis. That means that cities with more gamblers will definitely have more bonus hunters. At the same time, we noticed from a partial survey that sometimes it is people with higher economic and cultural capital who go in search of bonuses, while others play less strategically. But I mean, we can’t really comment on this; we should ask a sociologist instead!
How do bonus hunters typically find and choose their bonuses?
These days, it all starts with a simple Google search. Bonus hunters usually type keywords like “no deposit bonus” or “match bonus”, and sometimes they even search for bonus hunt slots, you know. Then, they end up on our site, which is one of the market leaders in this respect, and find our landing pages where we list many bonuses of the required type. But the thing is, we don’t just make lists: we fully explain the characteristics of each bonus and each casino, and by doing that we allow players to choose as they see fit according to their preferences.
Has the number of bonus hunters increased over recent years?
The most recent data we have on this is from 2022, while data for 2023 and 2024 is still to come. However, we can say that between 2020 and 2021, there was exponential growth, perhaps also due to COVID lockdowns. Growth also continued in 2022, but not on the same levels: we are talking about 5% more, something like that. We think that in 2023 and 2024, the numbers will be similar.
Do you see any regional trends or patterns in bonus hunting?
We haven’t really seen regional trends in our research. It feels like it’s more a matter of city than of region. You know, we got London, we got Birmingham and Wolverhampton, but that doesn’t mean that Midlanders are more prone to be bonus hunters. In the top 10 we also have Edinburgh representing Scotland, Cardiff for Wales, Plymouth for Cornwall and the third spot belongs to Newcastle. There’s a lot of variety, yeah.
How do casinos view bonus hunters in these cities?
Casinos used to see bonus hunters in a negative way, because they thought that these were just people using the bonus and then leaving the platform. But now they have understood that it’s not like that. If you really provide good offers, good games, good customer service and so on, people will stay. So, this perception of British bonus hunters is changing among casinos, that’s for sure.
What advice would you give to new bonus hunters based on your research?
Well, I think at Gamblizard, we already give plenty of advice to players. If I had to add something, that would be: try to think out of the box when looking for bonuses. What I mean is, don’t get stuck with the same old bonuses and ideas, but try to think of different possibilities that could widen your horizons. I just want to say this: there are still unexplored territories that could make it way easier to extend your gaming session.