Online Gambling is a digital activity where real money is used to place bets on games of chance using remote devices like computers, tablets or smartphones with internet access. It is regulated by individual states in the United States and many other countries around the world. Some governments have outright bans on gambling while others have extensive regulations and oversight of its regulation and operations.
Several studies have investigated the relationships between online gambling and problematic gambling, but most of these are cross-sectional in design. This article presents a literature review and an analysis of risk and protective factors, with emphasis on the comparison between online nonproblematic gamblers and offline nonproblematic gamblers and on correlations between specific psychological variables and problems with online gambling.
The growth of online gambling has been fuelled by a number of intrinsic characteristics which make it attractive to players (e.g., convenience, anonymity and variety of games). In addition, a number of service providers are offering third party software designed to help people control their gambling spending. This is particularly popular amongst younger people, who are often introduced to gambling behaviours by features of video games such as loot boxes and skin betting. In addition to these services, a number of companies offer apps that allow people to block websites and applications that encourage gambling. These apps are useful in limiting the amount of time people spend on online gambling, but they are not foolproof and it is possible for someone to circumvent these apps, especially if they have access to funds that can be spent on these activities.