Online Gambling Does Not Cause Addictive Behavior

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Tuesday, May 26th, 2015 | Written by Charles Washington

Since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement (UIGEA) was re-interpreted in 2011 to permit regulated state-by-state internet gambling, opponents have fiercely been attacking the move and crusading to have iGaming consigned to the scrap heap once more. Chief amongst its critics is Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson, who has compared online gambling to “crack cocaine,” with the billionaire claiming it will result in a higher rate of addiction amongst players.

However, a new study conducted by the Centre for Gambling Education and Research (CGER) from the Southern Cross University in Australia seem to have debunked the argument of Adelson and his Coalition To Stop Internet Gambling to be false, with the team’s leader, Dr. Sally Gainsbury, stating that “internet gambling does not cause gambling problems in, and of, itself.”

No Significant Link Between iGambling and Addiction

In her paper entitled ‘Online Gambling Addiction: the Relationship Between Internet Gambling and Disordered Gambling”, Dr. Gainsbury analyzed the data from a number of legalized online gambling markets across Europe, and comparing the information to regions where online gambling is prohibited, found no significant correlation between the increase in online gambling and addictive gambling behavior. As Gainsbury explains:

“An analysis across 30 European jurisdictions failed to identify any association between prohibitions against online gambling, gambling licensing systems, the extent of legal gambling opportunities and the prevalence of gambling disorder.”

Live Casino Gambling A Bigger Impact

In fact, Dr. Gainsbury suggests it is live gambling which leads to addiction, and that problem gamblers will eventually play on the internet at sometime, raising the rate of problem gamblers recorded on the Internet. She further notes that studies failing to take account of this will inevitably produce a misleading impression of the correlation between online gambling and problem gambling, and as Dr. Gainsbury explains:

“Evidence is emerging that Internet gambling is not only not predictive of gambling problems but that when other variables are controlled for individuals who gamble, online may have lower rates of gambling problems.”

Operators Should Not Be Complacent

The online gambling industry may largely be exonerated for creating problem gambling, but the study does warn operators not become complacent. As the iGaming market grows, for instance, so may a number of new problems be identified, with the study already suggesting gambling addiction may have causal links to sub-groups within the gaming market, such as amongst seasoned gamblers, with the medium then contributing to addictive behavior and a gambling problem.

Scientific Not Political

The research sheds a scientific light on a topic which has largely been hijacked by political interests groups over the years, including the Coalition To Stop Internet Gambling, whose stated aim is to see a complete shut down of the country’s online gambling market. Therefore, if problem gambling is to be better understood, studies produced by such scientists as Dr. Gainsbury should be greeted as a welcome contribution to the topic, and the iGaming industry should consequently provide as much access to data as possible to help further develop responsible gaming controls.

Implications For US iGaming

Since the UIGEA was reinterpreted four years ago, just three US states have embraced regulated online gambling, namely Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey, with no new states adopting legalization in over a year and a half. One of the reasons for such slow progress has been the lobbying efforts of anti-internet gambling groups which have claimed internet poker and casinos will transform US citizens into problem gamblers. Nevertheless, there has thus far been no reported instances of problem gambling from any of the country’s regulated markets, indicating there is no direct link between online gambling and problem gambling, and that gambling addition will occur whether the industry is legalized or not. Therefore, Dr. Sally Gainsbury’s study should prove useful in raising the profile of online gambling in the US, and helping to strengthen the struggle for legalization.

Stating his objection to online gambling on “moral” grounds, Sheldon Adelson has stated that it “crosses the line of responsible gaming by bringing gambling into our living rooms and onto our smartphones” by preying on “the young, the poor, and the elderly where they live.”

While he continues spouting his well-worn argument, however, one thing for sure is that Sheldon Adelson would sooner see such research swept under the carpet, rather than bring into question the role land-based casinos have in creating problem gamblers.