Problem gambling has been around four centuries, surely predating the opening of the first definable casino in European history (II Ridotto, Venice, Italy in 1683). Online gambling, however, has only been available for around 20 years. In all that time, anti-iGaming advocates have insisted that online poker, casino and other betting opportunities are contributing to an increase in underage and problem gambling.
Throughout the last decade, numerous studies have been conducted, all revolving around the impact of online wagering on today’s youth and gambling addicts. Due to the regulatory guidelines in the UK where advertising is concerned, such studies in that region tend to include the effect of online gambling ads; in particular, whether they encourage today’s youth to gamble.
Three recent studies in particular all pointed to a very limited social impact from online gambling.
The first research study in question was conducted by Howard Schaffer PhD of the Harvard Medical School’s Division of Addiction. He began compiling information in 2005, publishing his findings in 2011 based on his granted access to analytical data from online poker and casino website, bwin. Schaffer concluded that the majority of online gamblers only wagered small amounts, and could find no evidence that internet gaming amplified problem gambling.
A second study was published in November of 2014 by John Welte, PhD of the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions. The study compared a telephone survey conducted in 1999-2000, to a similar survey from 2011-2013, reflecting that “U.S. residents are gambling less often”. Welte found that gambling in general had actually decreased in the span of about a decade.
The following month, the UK Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) published a Review of the evidence on gambling advertisement. The report found that, “The evidence base for the impact of gambling advertising on children and young people is very limited”.
The UK has strict limitations on advertising that prevent operators from using creative marketing materials that might appeal to children and young people, which was, according to the study, a key recommendation from Moneghan et al (2008).
“CAP and BCAP do not consider that there are grounds to support the view that gambling advertising is a significant contributory factor to underage participation. As such they consider that the Codes meet the key objective of the Gambling Act 2005; to protect children and young people from harm,” read the publication under the section, Regulatory implications for the Codes.
Furthermore, the research concluded that prior evidence suggesting a link between advertising and underage/problem gambling were “drawn mainly from other fields that are not directly relevant to gambling”, particularly advertisements for alcohol. On the contrary, since the UK Gambling Act of 2005 was invoked, data showed that “underage participation has decreased… in spite of the significant increase in gambling advertising volumes and exposure.”
Certainly anti-online gambling advocates around the world, like Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp, would like to ensure as little publicity as possible in regards to these studies. But when you put it all together, based on analytical data ranging from 1999 and beyond – most of the time in which online gambling has been a factor – the overall decline in gambling in the UK and US points to the fact that problem gambling has not spiked due to the presence of internet poker and casino websites.