There are two hobbies of humans which date back to a few hundred years. One is the habit of hunting and the other one is of gambling. But gambling was not allowed in many states. Large land based casinos were built in those states where gambling was licensed. People used to come from other states to play casinos and do gambling. In order to cater to these demands, large hotels and restaurants were built in addition to the casino parlour. People used to come from other states, stay there to play casino games. This concept went on for centuries till the arrival of the Internet in the market.
With the increase in popularity of the Internet, penetration of PC and laptop went up by many times in different households. By that time, people have started playing casino games through their home PC or laptop and started enjoying the play at the same time. There was no need to go outside and they were saving a lot of money on travel and external snacks.
The trend changed further with the advent of the Smartphone in the market. People started playing casino games even on their Smartphone. Different types of gaming apps came up in the market and gamers started loading them in their Smartphone. To keep themselves advanced with the trend, many online casino websites came up in the market. But you have to be very careful if you are new to the world of online casino games. Some websites are not very honest and they have a bad record of duping the gamers money. Hence before you join a particular website, you must read a few reviews before you choose any particular website. You will get many benefits of joining a good website. Your money will be safe and you will also get good advice from expert players.
All these factors have led to the massive growth of the online casino market. Many experts are of the view that the casino market was the highest growing among the online segments. Revenue from online casino games have touched $30 billion during the current year and it is expected to grow further in the future. Online poker is $6 billion alone in the US as per the reports published in the last financial year.
With online gambling becoming legal, it’s impact was maximum on the young generation, as they are the highest user of Smartphone in the world today.
It has been found in a survey that around 20% of the college students play the game of poker at least once in a month. It was found in the survey that monthly use of Internet gambling sites by the college males went up from 4% in 2008 to 25% in 2020. The frequency of use remained the same, around 3% on a weekly basis. On a national basis, it has been found that 1 million youth studying in the college gamble over the Internet for money at least once in a week.
Though gambling among the high school girls was notably low, but from the mid half of the last decade, this number also started increasing. About 10% of the high school and college girls were reported to Internet gambling in the year 2008. But in the year 2020, it was found that around 28% of the female high school and college students resorted to Internet gambling for the purpose of earning money, and that too, at least once in a month.
Interestingly, it was also found that females are more prone to sports betting than the males. They prefer to earn money in various sports betting championship. Increase in sports betting was the main reason of female participation. The frequency of betting also showed a great increase – from mere 1% to 8% in 2020.
Today we live in a society where online gambling is not only legalized, but also acceptable in the society at large. Online gambling has also become highly promoted and it is also advertised, both at the state and also local level. High level poker tournaments get huge coverage at the national level. Some cable networks also announce huge prize rewards for the local participants.
In current times gambling is no longer considered a taboo. In fact it is now so much in trend as it involves glamour and visibility that an increasing number of teenagers are drawn towards this field. It offers them instant gratification, excitement, and opportunity to earn fast money. The three main reasons they reported for joining gambling sites are (a) the thrill it brings, (b) fun, and (c) fast money. Some other reasons also include to get rid of boredom and to cope with depression and peer pressure. In fact on college campuses this is a very common scenario where students are seen to play poker in dorm rooms and in local bars.
Columbia University Medical Center’s research has found that teenagers are half of the 16 million people in the United States with gambling addictions. At a time when youth are trying to build their identity, gambling can be appealing to them due to it’s excitement value and also for its ability to boost a youth’s self-image fast. Though on the contrary when losses it can inevitably cause a drop in self-esteem, financial stress, and depression. They may even start stealing money or selling their possessions to pay off debts. They can also continue gambling in a hope to win big.
Columbia’s research also shows that youth who start gambling at a very early age are more prone to get addicted and that gambling-addicted youths’ develop a peculiar perception that they have more than 50% probability of winning. Parents that gamble, can sometimes give lottery tickets to youth or give encouragement in gambling. They are often a main contributing factor in teens with gambling addiction. Teens suffer this problem gambling two and four times higher the rate of adults.
Another major reason that further complicates the effort to protect minors from online gambling is having easy access to computers and smartphones (many online casinos and card rooms have launched mobile options) that has made gambling just a click away.
