Internet Gambling Statistics


by Jerry "Jet" Whittaker
June 03, 2006

Online Gambling is becoming a progressively more popular form of gambling, and there are now an estimated 1,700 gambling websites on the Internet. As well as the Internet, you can now gamble in the course of interactive television and a mobile phone. The convience of gambling at home is the ease of setting up a gambling account and the multiplicity of forms of gambling from traditional betting, to casino gambling, bingo and lotteries makes online gambling very appealing. Nevertheless, whilst many people gamble online without any problems GamCare has started to see an increase in the amount of people contacting our helpline and counseling services who are losing control of their gambling online.

The pros and cons

Sarcastically, supporters and detractors of legalized online casinos often use the same argument protection of consumers. Keith Furlong of the Interactive Gaming Council argues that legalizing online gambling would permit for regulation. According to him legal online casinos would provide a better alternative and a safer route for consumers. But Jamie Wiebe of the Responsible Gambling Council of Ontario fears that online casinos aren't the same as land-based ones. According to him it seems that the internet gambling is a different sort of activity, in that it's and isolated activity. That might lead to, or contribute to, gambling addictions. But gaming itself is the purview of the provinces. So far, none of the provinces has endeavor into the online gambling world. The only exception presently is the Khanawake reserve in Quebec, which provides a portal and server space for many international online casinos. Loto Quebec says this might be illegal. The Quebec Police say they are investigating, but after two years of examination, no charges have been laid.

Conclusion

Furlong argues that with synchronized gambling, money can be put toward programs for problem gamblers. That's what takes place with the money the provinces make now. But gambling critic Sol Boxenbaum says that money is being composed off the backs of the victims. They're creating the problem, and then they're giving two per cent of the income to fight the problem that wouldn't be there, if they hadn't created it in the first place. Boxenbaum says its time to sit back and take a look at the changes in the gambling industry in Canada, chiefly since the introduction of casinos. Online gambling is the wild west of the betting world. Unlike provincial or state lotteries, and government-regulated casinos, it is mostly unregulated and in fact illegal in many countries.

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