What Mobile Social Casino Games Reveal About How Americans Unwind

What Mobile Social Casino Games Reveal About How Americans Unwind

BY Megan DeMatteo UPDATED August 22, 2025 11 MINS TO READ
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Slot machines in your pocket. Blackjack on your commute. For millions of Americans, playing mobile social casino games has become the new way to relax. Revenue from casino games and sports betting has grown by 2 and 13 percent, respectively, compared to the first half of 2024, according to the American Gaming Association, and in 34 states, much of that activity happens online.

Sometimes, these mobile apps use real money. Other times there’s no real cash at stake. No matter the currency, however, mobile games activate real neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin—which all influence how we relax, recharge, and bond with others.

To understand the roots of this uniquely digital form of leisure, it helps to rewind a few centuries before zooming ahead to the future.

What social casino games are and who plays them

Social casino games simulate classic gambling formats—e.g. poker, slots, bingo, roulette, horse racing—but they don’t always require real money. Many use a “freemium” model, which allows users to play with tokens or virtual chips, while offering the option to buy more with dollars or cryptocurrency. The psychological stakes, however, don’t always change.

“Our brains interpret it essentially the same way,” said Dr. Reneh Karamians, an assistant professor of psychology at The Chicago School who specializes in neuropsychology. “The same [neurological] pathways are activated as with a real win. The brain almost sees it as if you’re really winning a hand in real life.”
That means users can experience the same dopamine hits—whether it’s for $3,000 in cash or 300,000 gold “coins”—just by unlocking their phones .

Social casino games appeal to players across generations. According to a 2024 report by Statista and ad tech company Adjoe, people over the age of 40 are the most committed and play for an average of at least 17 minutes per day. Gender balance is pretty equal among social gamers, too, with men and women playing for comparable amounts of time. The balance of gaming activities, on the other hand, is not: a 2025 Grand View Research market report found a clear preference for slots, followed by card games, then bingo, then others.

How casino games evolved into digital comfort zones

The word “casino” traces back to Italy, home of the world’s oldest gambling house overlooking Venice’s Grand Canal, and where the term—literally translating to “little house”—embedded itself in the lexicon.

Since their beginnings, casinos have served as a space where people can escape from the drudgery of everyday life. Early casinos had strict rules of decorum, along with dress codes and high monetary stakes meant to attract nobles and businesspeople. However, the practice of social gaming has existed in all parts of the world for centuries, across Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia. Just recently, in 2024, archeologists uncovered components of a 4,000-year-old board game in Azerbaijan. Casinos simply elevated the practice of social games, raising the stakes with prizes and adding new symbols of status and luck. They also provided governments the opportunity to supplement their income streams. The Monte Carlo, for instance, one of the world’s best-known casinos, has generated revenue for Monaco since opening in 1863.

Today, people still go to casinos to enjoy what author and historian Jared Poley describes as “a feeling of luxury and exclusivity.” However, today, those early “little houses” have gotten, well, littler. Casinos now fit into the size of your phone or computer screen. While many people still like the bright chime of a physical slot machine, or the satisfying swap of plastic chips for paper cash, mobile casinos are more convenient and may even offer additional appeal from a psychological perspective.

For one thing, players might feel less peer pressure in social casinos:“You're not going to be yelled at by your buddies because you're holding up the [poker] game and you don't know if a straight beats a flush,” said Dr. Karamians. “Most of these apps will tell you you have a good hand, and so it takes away all that anxiety and just leaves you with the game aspect of it.”

Why social casino games feel so rewarding

In this way, social casinos have become a sort of digital “third space,” a term used to describe a neutral space outside the home or work environment where people can go to relax, unwind, and feel good. Social casinos can, in some contexts, provide a third space that’s low-pressure, but fun.

Beyond the thrill of dopamine hits, which come once the “reward” part of the brain is activated by a big win, social casino games activate serotonin—linked to good moods—and oxytocin, which humans produce when experiencing connection.

Dr. Karamians offered a memorable metaphor: Serotonin is like the good mood you feel on your drive to Vegas while you jam to pleasing music and soak in the scenery along the way. Dopamine is what you get when you hit it big and score $500 at the roulette table. And finally, oxytocin—our bonding hormone—shows up when treating your friends to dinner with your earnings or receiving a hug from your family after bringing home your prize.

Winning sends signals to your brain saying, “I'm perceiving that I'm increasing my value in the family system,” explains Alexandra Cromer, a licensed professional counselor with Thriveworks, a provider of in-person and online therapy services nationwide.

Casinos hit all the major feel-goods, but with mobile games you don’t even have to drive to the Vegas Strip to experience them. You just pop on your favorite tunes and escape for 30 minutes on the train commute home. As one Atlantic article describes it—it’s like there’s a Las Vegas in every phone now.

A booming industry built on feel-good science

A 2025 report by Cognitive Market Research found the North American social casino industry grew from a $2.3 billion market in 2021 to a $3.03 billion market in 2025, a rate of about 8 percent per year. If trends continue, the report predicts social casinos on both desktop and mobile will be a $5.45 billion industry. The U.S. accounts for about 75 percent of that activity.

Games like horse-race prediction app ZED Picks follow this trend by lowering the barrier to entry for casual players. Instead of requiring deep knowledge of horse racing or game mechanics, players make quick predictions based on pre-analyzed stats helping them guess which horses will place in the top half of a digital race. While the game has a cryptocurrency option, players can opt to use Zcoin, the app’s free social currency, which allows them to play for fun or for limited rewards without as much financial risk.

For experienced players like “Icicles,” a millennial player uses a gaming pseudonym to protect his identity, mobile horse racing provides an outlet for the analytical side of his brain. He spends about an hour a day playing ZED Picks’ more advanced sister game, [ZED Champions]https://zedchampions.com/), which allows users to actually own their horses and exert more control over their attributes and strengths than the introductory free-to-play version, in which they only predict winners. “You can just tap through and play casually [with ZED Picks], or you can dig into the stats and strategies behind each horse [with ZED Champions],” he said, adding he is more inclined to do the latter.

“The ZED Champions side of it has more appeal, because I feel like I have more control. I have more decisions I can make, as opposed to just sort of picking the top four horses,” he said. “The strategy I'm more drawn to personally is the ownership aspect of it, versus the gambling aspect.”

Icicles views the Zed games primarily as a hobby rather than a serious income stream—he says he’s withdrawn a few hundred dollars in recent months but plays mostly for enjoyment. While he’s attended live horse races at places like Lone Star Park in Texas, the real-world version hasn’t sparked much additional interest. He finds that in-person racing lacks the level of control and strategy that attracts him to digital versions.

Not to mention, real horse racing comes with significantly higher barriers: “You're dealing with something living that needs to be maintained in a certain way,” he said. “I’m not going to own or breed horses in real life—that aspect is always going to be different.”

Icicles has about 20 to 30 horses in his virtual stable. He says he plays Zed Champions every evening, setting aside time after work to check results, analyze upcoming races and adjust his strategy for the next day, when races commence at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT. The routine has become part of how he unwinds.
“For me, it’s just the analytical nature of it—trying to figure out what the best choices are,” he said.

When digital play becomes a problem

Of course, not all gaming behavior is healthy. Dr. Karamians drew a distinction between two types of gaming addiction.

“There’s addiction to the gambling aspect of it, but there's another kind of addictiveness that people may fall into, which is the addiction to escapism,” he said. “You can get addicted to the immediate escape from day-to-day stressors.”

This kind of habit often forms quietly. “You start playing for 10 minutes a day, and then suddenly it’s two hours,” he explained. “If the time spent is increasing, if you feel irritable when you’re not playing, or if it’s affecting your responsibilities—that’s when it becomes a problem.”

Dr. Viviane de Castro Pecanha, a psychologist and international behavioral consultant, adds that the concern is especially acute for younger users. “When you are young, you are still developing your brain. And when you are excessively engaging in a type of behavior, you are developing that part of the brain in a way that you will want to continue—even if you're not using real money.” For teens and those with a family history of addiction or impulse control disorders, that kind of neural wiring can lay the foundation for more serious compulsive behavior later on.

Rather than quitting cold turkey, Karamians suggests a gradual reduction. “You never want to take away a coping mechanism without replacing it with something healthier,” he said. “Otherwise, you risk a breakdown.”
Another idea is to set a clear spending limit—even in a separate account—just for gaming, advises Cromer. “One of the first things I do [with clients] is set a budget,” she said. “I’ve even had clients open another bank account just for that app—when the money’s out, the money’s out.”

Cromer emphasizes that managing compulsive behavior isn’t about shame or restriction, but about helping clients understand their habits and put helpful guardrails in place. She reminds us that human brains can be wired for excess: “We’re just monkeys with big brains,” she said. “Too much is never enough of a good thing.”
She believes the real work isn’t about stopping the behavior altogether, but understanding the motivations behind it.

“If you’re saying, ‘This helps me stay mentally sharp’ or ‘I’ve made real online friends,’ that’s valid,” Cromer said. But if the client is gaming to escape, she says she would “be curious.” She encourages clients to pause and assess whether the activity still feels fulfilling once limits are in place, or if it’s simply a coping strategy that’s lost its meaning.

If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling, resources are available for support. Organizations like Gamblers Anonymous and National Council on Problem Gambling offer confidential help, support groups, and guidance for managing compulsive gambling behaviors.

What social casino games reveal about how we relax

Social casino games don’t always use real money, but the emotional impact is real. They provide structure, stimulation, and reward in ways that can mimic interactions in the physical world. For some, they’re a harmless distraction. For others, like Icicles, they’re strategic and satisfying.

For Dr. Karamians, the appeal lies in thought management. “When the mind is idle, it tends to wander off and start to worry. [Gaming] prevents our mind from going down that rabbit hole … and focuses attention on something that's relatively pleasant.” He says this can stop an intrusive-thought spiral in its tracks. In some cases, both Cromer and Dr. Karaminas argue games—when played in moderation—may even share qualities of meditation.

“It's very hot take—and again, anything that's out of balance isn't healthy—but [gaming] can be a form of mindfulness because mindfulness is all about being in the present moment,” Cromer said.

In a way, social casino apps have become the “little houses” of our modern intrapersonal lives—quiet, digital sanctuaries where users can retreat, self-soothe, and feel a fleeting sense of control.

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