The Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in Canada is calling for legalisation of online gambling to allow for better regulation and to potentially reduce harmful effects. Believing that online gambling has the potential to become more habitual than casino gambling, marketing professor June Cotte and colleague Kathryn A. Latour from the University of Nevada have produced a study ‘ Blackjack in the Kitchen: Understanding online Versus Casino Gambling’.

"One potential solution is to allow legitimate corporate sponsors, like the corporations that run the major casinos in Las Vegas or the government sponsors in Canada, to enter into a newly regulated market for online gambling. Just as legalized commercial gambling in casinos allows governments to regulate it, so, too, could the legalization of online gambling allow for better regulation and attempts to reduce the growth of problem gamblers."

Results from interviewing regular casino gamblers and regular online gamblers using pictures as stimuli show that online gamblers play more frequently and aggressively. Online gambling lacks social interaction so participants are involved for the game, rather than other aspects, which may appeal to their competitive streak and increase the risk of addiction. According to Cotte, "The unregulated online environment results in a more chaotic environment with no clear social norms and rules. The meaning of gambling changes, moving from a shared conviviality available in the casino to a no-holds-barred battle online. It brings out the gamblers' more competitive side.”

Although online gambling is illegal or in a legal grey area in Canada and the U.S., except when initiated by Canada's provincial lottery corporations, it is still easily accessible through Internet companies located offshore. According to the study, more than $10 billion annually is spent worldwide by consumers on online gambling. In contrast, casino gambling, which is now legal in all but two U.S. states, is highly regulated and scrutinized. Cotte and Latour suggest legalising and regulating online gambling, similar to the way casino gambling is regulated, may help reduce the incidences of problem gambling.

Outlining possible strategies in online gambling regulation the study also recommends that flashing bold graphics to signify a win are minimised to lesson the emotional experience for gamblers. Other suggestions include better use of age checks, setting financial limits, mandatory cooling-off periods for gamblers, making tabulations of a player’s wins and losses more visible and having an online gambling counsellor available online. (E-07.17.08)

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