Brandon EdwardsTourists go to Las Vegas anticipating certain things-bright lights, showgirls and gambling. Now, you can access some of these things from your own computer-particularly the gambling.
“I know that we’re popular among college-aged students. Exactly how popular is anyone’s guess,” a support supervisor at PokerStars.com, said.
Online gambling is on the rise, particularly among college students. According to Studentaffairs.com, college students are the fastest growing sector of online gamblers.
The reasons contributing to this surge in popularity can be contributed to the life of a college student. These reasons could range from free Internet access in college dorms, familiarity with Internet technology or just avoiding the occasional boredom of campus life. There is also an incident where a Chris Moneymaker won $2.5 million dollars in the 2003 World Series of Poker with only previous experience playing online.
While online gambling may be popular among college students, how popular is at specifically on Cabrini’s campus? At the “Up ’til Dawn” game and poker night a few weeks ago, only eight people attended for poker. Several of them were certain that several of their friends play online.
A major problem with online gambling, however, is its addictive nature. There have been several cases of students neglecting work and falling into debts-usually the same symptoms of real life gambling addictions.
“College age students, particularly males, characteristically engage in more risky behavior with drugs, alcohol, sex and gambling and therefore are at a higher risk of these behaviors developing into addictions,” Dr. Sara Maggitti, associate director of counseling services, said. “There are nine males to every one female who exhibit problem gambling. College students, when surveyed, tend to consider gambling more acceptable than drinking.”
However, many online-gambling sites allow the use of “play money” as an alternative to real money-so people can play just for fun or practice.
Most online-gambling sites require you to register before you can play. Registering for one of these sites is the same as registering for anything else online-you enter your online nickname, a password and e-mail address. Then you enter other details such as your actual name and where you live-similar to ordering items online.
Of course it varies of some sites. PokerRoom.com for example requires you to give them your e-mail and wait for an activation code before can complete your registry.
There are currently over 53,000 online casinos on the Internet-with over 12 million people playing online. Many of these web sites have accumulated billions dollars thus far, and it is estimated that they will continue to make hundreds of billions of dollars in the future.
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Posted to the we by Brandon Edwards
