 Report
Shows The Long Term Effect of Gambling in Online Casinos
A Professor who teaches
clinical and community psychology at the University of
Birmingham in the United Kingdom has written a report for the
Department of Trade and Industry citing what he believes will be
the effect of relaxed gaming laws and online casinos.
The professor believes that the government has not paid enough
attention to the effect that gambling and online casinos will
have on the community in general. He argues that the greater the
availability the greater the problems it will create.
Since the government passed the Gambling Act in 2005 it has made
new forms of gambling such as betting from mobile phones and
Blackberries, via televisions and on the internet in online
casinos much more accessible and therefore more likely to
encourage gambling addiction.
The professor believes that the most damaging form of betting
will be spread sheet betting where gamblers can bet on financial
markets and the results of sporting events. This type of betting
has the most damaging effect as the gambler may experience huge
losses compared to the amount of money wagered.
The British government in the past has always been strict when
it comes to regulating the gambling industry but the
legalization of many forms of gambling including online casinos
came when the responsibility was shifted from the Home Office,
where gambling was treated as a potential danger to the
individual, to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Now
this move has been made, the gambling and online casinos
industry is now a leisure activity.
This new law has allowed many new casino resorts to open up all
over the United Kingdom and online casinos are now legalized.
The report believes these laws will make gambling a common every
day occurrence as gambling machines with high jackpots and
unlimited stakes will be accessible all over the country. Adding
to these new forms of gambling are bingo and casino games that
are available round the clock.
It is estimated that the annual turnover of gambling and online
casinos will be £53 billion ($98 billion US). At present there
are 140 casinos in the UK and 670 bingo clubs. It is not known
how many online casinos are used by UK gamblers. There are 8,000
sports betting shops and 250,000 gambling machines. The new
Gambling Act will allow 17 new land based casinos and many more
online casinos.
In 2004 it was estimated that 2% of the population had gambled
in online casinos and the concern is that these online casinos
could create up to 750,000 problem gamblers in the UK.
The online casinos industry believes that by regulating the
practice, problems can be more easily controlled and dealt with
such as underage and problem gambling.
Online casinos have been going through a rough patch due to the
laws in America attempting to being passed, but despite this the
online casinos industry is booming and more people are gambling
online than ever before.
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