Thursday, August 12, 2004

The Good and the Bad of Online Gambling

'Hidden cost' of online gambling

Despite the negativity in the title, BBC Online have reported a reasonably balanced view of online gambling - although it does peter into an 'addiction' report by the end

The Ladbrokes E-Gaming MD comments on the huge growth of the industry in the past 5 to 6 years, claiming:
"In poker, we're turning over £10m in pots every day. That's money that customers are staking one against the other. It's a significant business."

Thats a significant rake for Ladbrokes and they're definitely not the biggest online poker room

The story continues to relate 2 stories of online gamblers - one who plays online because 'its a bit of fun' and prefers the anonymity that the internet offers.

Whilst the second story provides a slightly more negative image of a female gambler that lost £45,000 in 4 weeks playing online poker.

Interestingly, both stories were about women gamblers - the media's current obsession.

However, it is worrying when the player compares the lack of self-control she experienced from her gambling as:
"...it's just not real, it's like playing a GameBoy or a PlayStation. It's just like a video game."

Thats a dubious comparison at best and whilst its important to highlight the potential dangers of gambling addiction, when online casinos and poker are being compared to kids games, its precariously balanced image once again tips heavily towards the anti-gambling brigade

posted by jo @ 11:11 PM   0 comments

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