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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. |
