Methodology

All gambling products do not have the same risk potential. Gambling products are characterized by situational parameters realized in observable scales that combined, result in more or less distinct risk potential.

 

The scales are standardized between 0 (of no importance) and 10 (of very great importance). All scales are symmetric.

 

The following ten dimensions (parameters) provided a useful framework to examine the risk potential of different gambling products:^[1]

 

1.    Event frequency

 

Definition: Unit of time between stake, gambling result and next stake opportunity.

 

Scale

> 6 days	> 24 hrs ≤ 6 days	> 1 hr ≤ 24 hrs	> 10 min ≤ 1 hr	> 3 min ≤ 10 min	> 1 min ≤ 3 min	> 15 sec ≤ 1 min	> 5 sec ≤ 15 sec	≤ 5 sec
0	1.25	2.5	3.75	5	6.25	7.5	8.75	10

 

 

2.    Interval of payback

 

Definition: Period of time between gambling result and notification of payment or actual receipt of payment.

 

Scale

> 6 days	> 24 hrs ≤ 6 days	> 1 hr ≤ 24 hrs	> 10 min ≤ 1 hr	> 3 min ≤ 10 min	> 1 min ≤ 3 min	> 15 sec ≤ 1 min	> 5 sec ≤ 15 sec	≤ 5 sec
0	1.25	2.5	3.75	5	6.25	7.5	8.75	10

 

 

3.    Jackpot

 

Definition: An extraordinary top prize typically in the form of a large amount of money formed by the accumulation of previous bets.

 

Scale

non existent	≥ 0 $ < 100 $	≥ 100 $ < 1.000 $	≥ 1.000 $ < 10.000 $	≥ 10.000 $ < 50.000 $	≥ 50.000 $ < 100.000 $	≥ 100.000 $ < 1 Mio. $	≥ 1 Mio. $
0	1.25	2.5	4	6	7.5	8.75	10

 

 

4.    Continuity of playing

 

Definition: Period of time during which it is possible to gamble without interruption.

 

Scale

≤ 5 min of continuous gambling	> 5 min ≤ 30 min of continuous gambling	> 30 min ≤ 1 hour of continuous gambling	> 1 hour ≤ 3 hrs of continuous gambling	> 3 hrs of continuous gambling
0	2.5	5	7.5	10

 

 

5.    Chance of winning a profit

 

Definition: The probability of realizing a profit with each game.

 

Scale

0%	> 0 % ≤ 0,1 %	> 0,1 % ≤ 0,5 %	> 0,5 % ≤ 1 %	> 1 % ≤ 5 %	> 5 % ≤ 10 %	> 10 % ≤ 25	> 25%
0	1,25	2.5	4	6	7.5	8,75	10

 

 

6.    Availability

 

Definition: Possibility of accessing gambling opportunities.

 

Scale

Gambling opportunities within a radius of > 100 km	Gambling opportunities within a radius from > 25 km  to  ≤  100 km	Gambling opportunities within a radius from > 10 km to  ≤  25 km	Gambling opportunities within a radius from > 1 km  to  ≤  10 km	Gambling opportunities within a radius of ≤  1 km	Gambling opportunities at home / workplace
0	2.5	4	6	7.5	10

 

 

7.    Multiple playing-/stake opportunities

 

Definition: Opportunity to play several stakes at the same time (e.g. betting on several roulette numbers) or to take part in several gambling opportunities at the same time (e.g. playing different slot-machines at the same time or playing different online-poker-tables on different screens at the same time).

 

Scale

no multiple playing opportunity and no multiple stake opportunity	multiple playing opportunities or multiple stake opportunities	multiple playing opportunities and multiple stake opportunities
0	5	10

 

 

8.    Variable stake amount

 

Definition: Extent to which gamblers can choose or modify their stake amounts while playing.

 

Scale

no variable (= fixed) stake amount	variable stake, limited stake amount	variable stake, unlimited stake amount
0	5	10

 

 

9.    Sensory product design

 

Definition: Auditory and visual effects.

 

Scale

non-existent	auditory or visual effects exist	auditory and visual effects exist
0	5	10

 

 

10.  Near wins

 

Definition: Results when a gambler supposes to almost win (to miss the profit narrowly; a near win).

 

Scale

non-existent	un-intentionally created, occurring by chance	intentionally created by supplier/ producer, occurring more frequently than random
0	5	10

 

Some dimensions are more important than others in increasing the risk potential of the gambling product. Therefore weights are assigned for each parameter regarding their risk potential. The weights are standardized between 0 (of no importance) and 10 (of very great importance). 

 

The overall risk potential of a gambling product is obtained by multiplying the weight of each dimension by the score on that dimension and adding up the weighted scores of all ten dimensions. Thus the range ASTERIG^© is 0-620, where the maximum is obtained by multiplying the resulting individual points of each dimension (which always range from 0-10) by the weight of those dimensions (which could also range theoretically from 0-10, but which are fixed by the experts currently between 4-8). Based on the particular scales and on the general weights of dimensions, the result is a number of points with a maximum of 620 points = 62 (sum of the weights) x 10 (maximum scale), which can be normalized to a maximum score^[2] of maximum 10 by dividing by 62 (i.e., 620: 62)^[3]:

Risk potential criteria	weights	scales	range of value[4]
Event frequency	8	0 - 10	0 - 80
Interval of payback	6	0 - 10	0 - 60
Jackpot	5	0 - 10	0 - 50
Continuity of playing	8	0 - 10	0 - 80
Chance of winning a profit	6	0 - 10	0 - 60
Availability	7	0 - 10	0 - 70
Multiple playing-/stake opportunities	6	0 - 10	0 - 60
Variable stake amount	6	0 - 10	0 - 60
Sensory product design	4	0 - 10	0 - 40
Near wins	6	0 - 10	0 - 60
Totals	62	0 - 10	0 - 620

 

The different meanings of dimensions of the risk potential of each gambling product can be visualized by a scorecard.^[5]

If the total points are classified into five categories of equal amplitude, the results can be seen to map five categories of risk:

 

Result	Score	Risk category	Risk potential
1 - 124	> 0  -  ≤ 2	A	lowest
125 - 248	> 2  -  ≤ 4	B	low
249 – 372	> 4  - ≤ 6	C	moderate
373 - 496	> 6  -  ≤ 8	D	high
497 - 620	> 8  -  ≤ 10	E	highest