A study of more than 700,000 North American online gamblers released on Tuesday (23 July) reveals that 96% of respondents lose money and that lower-income gamblers are more “irresponsible” with their gambling spending than higher-income gamblers.
Researchers at UC-San Diego’s Rand School of Management took a comprehensive look into gambling habits and how legal online betting affects jurisdictions and individuals. States with legal online gambling get increased revenue and more money to funnel to problem gambling initiatives, per the study. And a legal market helps to limit illegal wagering.
But for consumers, gambling is a money-losing proposition with potentially life-changing consequences. And online casino, researchers wrote, caused more “irresponsible” behaviour than online sports betting.
“On the downside, increased accessibility and participation can lead to higher rates of problematic gambling behaviour,” the authors wrote.
Tracking online gambling spending habits
In part..