Web gambling attracts addicts

Online gamblers are more likely to be ill-educated loners with serious gambling problems than their off-line counterparts, according to new research.


In a study of 389 people by psychologists at the University of Connecticut Health Center, eight per cent had gambled online, of whom 74 per cent had problematic or pathological gambling habits.


By contrast, only 22 per cent of participants without internet gambling experience had serious gambling problems.


However the study was unable to determine whether internet gambling leads to these problems, or whether online gambling attracts people who already have these problems.


"The availability of internet gambling may draw individuals who seek out isolated and anonymous contexts for their gambling behaviours," said the report's authors.


"Accessibility and use of internet gambling opportunities are likely to increase with the explosive growth of the internet," they added.


Online betting is forecast to boom over the next few years, spurred by relaxed government attitudes and adoption of broadband internet access.


Research by Screen Digest predicts that online betting spend will grow from £553m in 2002 to £1.4bn by 2010.