Scientists: online betting makes it easier to get into gambling addiction

The National University of Ireland – Galway published the results of a study on the sad increase in gambling addiction. Experts named the main problems of getting used to online gambling – accessibility and the absence of obvious signs of addiction. Unlike land-based bookmakers, online platforms can be visited at any time of the day, from almost any mobile device and as anonymously as possible. Aggressive advertising also increases the number of players involved by luring customers with supposedly high chances of winning. The demand for online gambling has increased significantly compared to last year due to quarantine measures during the pandemic, experts say. This can be seen from the statistics provided by a professional consultant in the fight against various types of addictions – in 2020, requests for help with gambling addiction increased by 50 percent. In connection with the increase in the growth of gambling addiction to online gambling, many countries are tightening the rules, limiting advertising and increasing the allowable age of “players”. For example, the Belgian authorities a few years ago began to introduce new restrictions on online gambling. Although in other countries more and more new licenses are issued for the legalization of online gambling operators.