One of the primary complaints among those who oppose online gambling is that it is drastically more addictive than live gambling at a physical casino, for example.
This assumption has prompted the Harvard Medical School’s Division on Addiction to partner with online gaming firm Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment to do an official study.
What was found is quite the contrary; online gambling is not more addictive. In fact, gamblers tend to play with greater frequency in live casinos and spend drastically more while there.
Online gambling has the same percentage of “intense gambling behavior” as live gambling—at 1-5 percent of all gamblers, but the study found that the architecture, atmosphere, and social aspect of live casinos actually prompts gamblers to spend more.
What many critics forget (or are unaware of) is that online gambling has far more opportunity to place smaller wagers than live casinos. Even if someone is gambling with greater frequency online, he or she may ultimately be spending far less than if they had traveled to a physical gaming establishment.
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