There has been some surprising news in the form of a University of Melbourne study on gambling addiction. Bans on online casinos are usually justified as a means to protect those who are addicted to gambling. Saying that an increase in access to gambling will lead to an increase in addiction. It seems like a logical argument, and hasn’t really been challenged until just recently. The study has shown that while there are similarities between those who are addicted to gambling and those who
are addicted to internet gambling, these are in fact different groups of people. While it certainly is a possibility that someone who is addicted to, say blackjack, at a land based casino will play online casino games as well, the study has shown that the online play does not feed the addiction in the way that it does at a land based casino. There is also the matter of simple internet addiction, something which thousands of people suffer from and is not particularly related to gambling. While for some people it is very difficult for them to go without checking their Facebook account, or some other site, for some people it’s difficult to go without stopping in at their favorite online casino. The casino is just the form that their internet addiction has taken, and is not the source of the addiction in itself.