United States Behind in Online Gambling

April 7, 2009

A recent study showed that although the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act or UIGEA made many think that online gambling was now illegal, when questioned they said that even though it was illegal the US probably participated in online gambling more than any other country. Experts think that this belief is because of the press that the UIGEA has gotten and how important it is to a lot of people that online gambling be legalized again.

However, when it comes to world leaders in the online gambling industry, it is not the United States that comes to the top of that list. Instead, it is New Zealand and Australia that are leading the pack. According to University of Lethbridge Professors Robert Williams an Robert Wood, both countries average more than $400 a month worth of bets from online gambling patrons.

On average, they are betting $435 a month as compared to those in other countries. The survey was of more than twenty thousand online gambling players, from more than 105 countries. Those in New Zealand and Australia admitted to spending more on their online gambling than other countries did.

The online gambling community�s experts however say that people are not necessarily honest about how much they spend at the online casinos. They say that the study is tainted by those that are answering the questions and that a more scientific or mathematical study should have been run before making such a claim.

They say that online gambling numbers from each country need to be looked at instead of simply asking the question.





Back to April 09 Archive.