Waiting time between placement and outcome

Short waiting time, high speed

With gambling products that have a short waiting time, you know very quickly whether you have won or lost. The time between your bet and the outcome is short. Because it happens so quickly, you often want to play again straight away. This makes this form of gambling particularly addictive. This is also known as “high event frequency”.

Examples of gambling products with a short waiting time are:

• Slot machines (gaming machines)
• Poker
• Betting on horses or sports matches (such as football or tennis)
• Scratch cards
• Bingo in a hall or online
• Online casinos (such as roulette or blackjack)

Long waiting time, low speed

With gambling products that have a long waiting time, it takes longer to find out whether you have won or lost. You have to wait longer for the result. This means that these forms of gambling are usually less addictive, but there is always a risk involved. This is also referred to as “low event frequency”.

Examples of gambling products with a long waiting time are:

• Lotteries (such as State Lottery or Postcode Lottery)
• Store promotions where you have a chance to win a prize
• Sports quizzes where you need to send in an answer
• Football pools (for example predicting the results of matches in a tournament)
• Annual charity raffle

Please note: you can also lose money on gambling products with a long waiting period. Therefore, only gamble with money you can afford to lose.

Additional information: in the Netherlands, people sometimes also use the term long odds for gambling products with a long waiting time and short odds for gambling products with a short waiting time.