Do Online Casinos Cause Gambling Addictions?

Today I took my stroll around the internet world of casino blogs.

I like reading online casino blogs. I like reading poker blogs. But I’m not addicted to reading them or anything.. I mean, I can stop at any time. For real. No, honestly.

I am not a blog addict – I swear! No really, I’m not an addict! Are you accusing me of being addicted? I only have 200 blogs in my blog reader, that’s nothing, I mean, umm, Aaarrgggghghhhh I’mmmNoootttAannnAdddiccccttttt!!!!!!

But seriously.

Some people say online casino gaming turns more people into gambling addicts. Turns average joes into compulsive freak gamblers that spend their kid’s lunch money on blackjack, poker, and slots. Is that real? I mean, is that really a proven theory?

Are you addicted to casinos and poker? We can help!How do we know that online gambling produces more addicts? Can’t people just enjoy playing online in a responsible manner? Is an addict an addict, whether they go to real life casinos or online casinos? Does the availability of online casinos, that 24 hour 7 day a week access to casino gaming make the overall population of addicted casino people go up? I mean, it is a convenience to have a casino open at all hours of the day and night to play a quick hand of poker or blackjack, maybe do some bingo. Maybe you get the get the urge to bet on a game via sportsbooks at 3 in the morning, at 3 a.m.

Here’s an opinion from Bill’s Poker Blog:

I’ve long said that the argument that compulsive gamblers will increase due to the availability of online gaming was highly questionable and now it appears the British government has produced the results to bolster my belief. According to a report published last week, 99.4 Britons were able to enjoy gambling responsibly. Only 0.6% were found to be problem gamblers. Now, this is despite the fact that online gaming is legal (and regulated), legal bookies can be easily found, and the National Lottery is pimped pretty regularly.

What the anti-gaming crowd ignores is that despite these positive findings online gaming could do even more to keep problem gamblers off the tables. Think of all the work that goes into thwarting cheating, bots, and fraud. If the same levels of effort were put into stopping problem gamblers you could even further reduce the number of problem gamblers able to gamble online. The same goes for underage gambling. Using both carrot and stick measures to reward and punish online card rooms for certain types of behavior you could all but eliminate all of the main problems that the anti-gaming folks trumpet so loudly.

Only 0.6% of people in Britain have a gambling problem. Keep in mind that online gambling is legal in the United Kingdom and that poses an interesting debate. Does making gambling online illegal help with preventing addictions? Who is responsible for reducing the incidents of people with gambling problems: the government, casinos, or the people themselves? Should anyone really shoulder the blame for this so-called epidemic?

Most of us realize that the United States government bringing the UIGEA into life is not about stopping people from becoming problem gamblers. We know it’s all about the tax money (or the lack thereof due to the lack of government regulation and the proliferation of so many gambling companies in countries like Costa Rica). It’s easy to tax casino money coming from big cities like Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Not so much from San Jose in Costa Rica.

So is the solution to this challenge found in banning online casinos or is the solution educating people about responsible gaming?




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Posted on October 13, 2007

Comments

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  3. online gambling deve 15 November 2008 at 2:00 am Permalink

    banning casino sites wont end up gambling addiction because people will look for ways to play it, i guess education would help but it really depends on the person to responsible in online casino and gambling

  4. Kim Yangh 8 January 2009 at 2:10 pm Permalink

    Online gaming is the form of Internet addiction that is rapidly growing among young people. I suspect my children is at risk from spending too much time online, that’s why I use Internet filtering software Ez Internet Timer It can stop all children’s on-line activity and block Internet browsers, e-mails, messengers according to my daily schedule.

  5. Jeff Powers 6 April 2009 at 8:39 am Permalink

    Thanks everyone for the great insight and post here.Its great when the poker and gaming world can share ideas and expirence with others and i will be making a contribution here as well.thanks

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    You've pointed out quite a few good points. I've been visiting your website for a few days now, and cannot find your rss feed, I'd like to add it to my yahoo reader. Do you have one available, and if so, where can I find it? I will check back later for your reply. Again, thank you so much for your writings.

  8. Helen loves casino s 14 November 2010 at 9:32 am Permalink

    Online gaming is probably the easiest to get addicted to but then it is also the easiest to safe guard, you can set your spending limits and even self-ban if need be. If you play casino slots online, you can maintain a certain distance where as the atmosphere in an actual live casino can be much more addictive.


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