Sigmadelt

Article by Kent Brockman

As online gambling is expanding, many people, including scientists and officials, are concerned about the impact, which online gambling has on players around the world. This concern is reflected in recent researches and studies, undertaken by various think tanks in the USA and Great Britain. These researches and studies explore not only online casino, but its land-based predecessor and mobile casino as a successor.

One of these studies is carried out by Howard J. Schaffer in Harvard University. Doctor Schaffer is an experienced specialist in the field of problem gambling. The findings of his study “Disordered Gambling: Etiology, Trajectory and Clinical Considerations” may have a crucial impact on the perception of online and mobile casino gaming. They include the proved fact that online gambling does not contribute to players’ addiction. Whether players come to play card games online or spin some slot machines, it does not influence much the rate of players’ addiction.

According to the statistics, provided in Schaffer’s research, the number of addictive players in the USA is even decreasing (from 0,7% to 0,6%). It serves as a basis for the general assumption. Mobile casino as a part of the world’s online gambling is also attributed to this study. Besides it, it is stated that there are only 1% of people who play card games online among all gambling people in the world. It means that gambling at brick and mortar casinos represents much greater danger.

It’s necessary to admit, that there are two sources of sponsorship for conduction of such researches. The first of them is the funds from big online gambling establishments, as usually online and mobile casino is the target for critics from the lobbyists’ and anti-gambling politicians’ side. In the UK such casinos may include famous CasinoMagic or other online gaming sites. The second group of sponsors comes from UK supervision commissions, specializing in the area of online gambling and e-commerce. eCOGRA and European Gaming and Betting Association belong to such organizations. They are interested in supporting the responsible gambling approach among the UK online casinos, like CasinoMagic.

In general, the findings of such researches are used while developing special programs, aimed at preventing problem gambling in the UK.The Responsible Gaming Day conference will be divided in four categories, the last of them devoted to the roundtable between online casino UK stakeholders, officials, players and regulators. The main issue of the roundtable will be the debates about the European Commission’s Green Paper on online gaming. Until this, the main outcome of the Responsible Gaming Day is the necessity of mutual efforts in protection online players.