The current spread of casinos across many states is bad enough. Just wait until states start pushing online gambling. This is the next big wave in gambling expansion, as The New York Times details here. (Sadly, the Times story fails to point out the downsides of online gambling and only makes a glancing reference to opposition.)
Just consider that many gamblers already visit local casinos an average of three to five times a week, or more than 250 times a year. Many spend hours at the casinos. So just wait until folks can gamble whenever and wherever they want, via their iPads, laptops and mobile phones. That’s when gambling addiction will explode into the mainstream, especially among younger people and even teens.
It will aslo push gambling problems into the middle and upper classes. Those two groups largely eschew casinos, which are populated mostly by poor, elderly, working class and minority residents. But online gambling will likely attract college students and other younger gamblers who already spend hours online.
Facebook, MySpace and other online operators are already laying the foundation for online gambling. Other tech operators are also poised to jump in, backed by hedge funds and Wall Street.
Years from now when reporters and historians go back to examine what went wrong, they will find the federal government is to blame. Just before Christmas 2011, the Justice Department quietly reversed itself and released a legal opinion lifting its longstanding ban in Internet gambling. The opinion was written in September but the Justice Department waited until Christmas to release it. The move opened the door for the virtual casinos coming soon to every house and mobile phone.
