WASHINGTON, D.C. – In recent years, gambling has become an accepted form of leisure on college campuses. Whether it be buying lotto tickets, taking a bet on the college basketball team or playing poker in a dorm room, there’s no doubt most college students dabble in gambling in one way or another.

The most common form of gambling among both female and male college students is playing the lottery. With the exception of the lottery, both genders tend to differ on their gambling habits, with men preferring card games, betting on sports or games which involve skill, women are more fond of gambling at casinos, playing slot machines and of course playing the stereotypical bingo games.

The Rise of Online Gambling

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However one gambling element that’s seen a huge rise among schools and college students is online gambling. Online poker itself is said to be worth $6 billion in the US alone, since the Justice Department reversed their position on online poker and gambling, making it all legal. With such a meteoric rise in popularity across all users in the USA in a relatively short space of time, it comes as little surprise to learn that gambling sites have many teens or young adult users regularly playing on their websites.

A massive 20%, or one fifth, of college students admit to playing online poker at least once per month, according to a study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center. The Center has tracked the use of gambling sites among people for over 10 years.

One thing that the Annenberg Public Policy Center did find that was although monthly use of internet gambling sites by college aged males shop up over a period of years, the frequency of use did not. This basically suggests that although there are more college students now participating in online gambling, they actually don’t play any more often than when fewer people were playing. Over the course of the years, the frequency of gambling among college age males has remained at about just 3% on a weekly basis.

Why the Huge Increase?

There are a few reasons why so many more college students are now gambling online as opposed to say just 2 or 3 years ago. The main one would be the rise of technology which makes online gambling far more easy and convenient. Not only are there new and improved online gambling and casino websites popping up at the drop of a hat, but with so much portable technology at our fingertips, it’s easy to take a bet at the drop of a hat. For example if you’re waiting in your room on friends coming over, or are killing time in a class until the lecturer shows up, gambling on a mobile device online can prove to be the fast fun fix you need.

Another reason for this increase is that payment restrictions are no longer a barrier to these teen players, as all that’s usually required in order to gamble online is a verified credit card. However again with the rise in popularity of online casino type websites, there is also more choice in the way you can fund an account, one of which is the relatively anonymous Ukash vouchers. These can be purchased from a shop and are entered manually onto an online site, without divulging personal details. This then overcomes the need to be 21 to enter a live casino, allowing younger college students to join in the exhilarating gaming experience.

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Another reason is that, although it’s cliché to suggest, gambling – particularly online gambling – is so often glamorized in popular culture. From the swathes of adverts on TV and online, to the various films which take place in casinos, it’s easy to see why college students would want to experience this for themselves. Take Rounders for instance, a 1998 film starring Matt Damon as a college student and talented poker player who plays in New York’s underground card clubs, or even the 2008 film, 21, which is based on the true story of 6 MIT students taught to count cards and take a Vegas casino for millions – both are not only great films to watch but are incredibly appealing for students who think they could be living that high life.

So it’s clear to see that gambling is certainly proving more popular with college students, due to a number of factors such as the rise in technology making it easier and more convenient to gamble, changes in laws and the reflection of gambling in popular culture. However it doesn’t appear to be problematic in any way as these smart students have not shown any increase in habitual use.