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The first independent gambling guide to the best online
casinos!
Online Casinos Addictions in the
United States Rising: Survey Finds
Americans are wagering
more dollars at online casinos, at racetracks and through state
lotteries, but they're not too happy about it, a survey released by the
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press suggests.
The study found that seven out of 10 people questioned believe that
legalized gambling – even at online casinos- encourages folks to spend
more money than they can afford on the activity. The Washington,
D.C.-based center called the finding a "modest backlash" toward
legalized gambling despite a decade-long explosion in the growth of
states offering casino gambling and the boom over the past few years in
online casinos.
Paul Taylor, executive vice president of the Pew Research Center, said
the softening of support for legalized gaming at online casinos, isn't
surprising because the activity has become a growing part of the
American culture.
The survey, which was conducted nationally by telephone between Feb. 8
and March 7, questioned 2,250 adults on their views about legalized
gambling as well as online casinos. The Pew Research Center is
conducting a series of surveys into American social trends. It was the
first time Pew looked at Americans' attitudes toward gambling on an
expansive level, other than just asking a few questions as part of
another survey.
Thousands of Americans are playing at online casinos right now and the
thousands of online casinos online are competing for dollars, though
most online casinos are based in offshore havens like Antigua. Still,
online casinos, despite their legal uncertainty, are making major
profits. Online casinos have captured the minds of millions worldwide.
To gauge a change in American attitudes on gaming at online casinos, the
Pew Research Center used the results of a survey on gambling conducted
by The Gallup Organization.
While 70 percent of Americans say legalized gambling encourages people
to gamble more money than they can handle, 62 percent expressed similar
reservations, according to Gallup in 1989.
"The is really just a snapshot of public attitudes on gaming," Taylor
said. "It's a small softening of support for legalized gaming, but a we
still have a great majority of the public still supportive of the notion
of legalized casinos."
Online casinos and land based casinos industry representatives were not
surprised by the Pew findings.
MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman, who has studied dozens of surveys on
legalized gaming, land based casinos, and online casinos over the past
few years, said the findings were not different from other studies. The
attitude that legalized gambling causes people to wager more than they
can handle is a common finding.
"This seem consistent with what we've seen in other public polling,"
Feldman said. "People's opinions have always been that gambling is OK
for me and my friends, but not for others."
American Gaming Association Executive Director Judy Patterson said the
Pew survey had similar findings to those discovered in the
organization's annual survey of the American gaming consumer – both at
online casinos and offline casinos.
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