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Number of pathological Internet gamblers up

November 20 2008 at 10:17AM

Internet gamblers are much more likely to become pathological gamblers than people who visit casinos, and the Internet does not offer enough help for people with addiction problems.

Speaking at the 10th annual International Society of Addicted Medicine (Isam) conference in Cape Town on Wednesday, Yasser Khazaal, deputy head of the division of addictology at the University Hospital of Geneva, said the number of pathological gamblers was growing across the world.

"If you are a pathological gambler it means you have lost your control.

"It is more likely for Internet gamblers to become pathological gamblers. I don't know if this is because the Internet is more addictive or if the people online are already gamblers and exacerbate their problem online," he said.

Khazaal has been researching websites that offer help for people with addiction problems. He said that much-needed help does not exist. "If people are gambling on the Internet, there should be counselling there, too," he said.

Parliament approved a new Internet gambling law in May in an attempt to regulate the industry.

But online gambling is increasingly popular and there is no worldwide regulatory system that can control or standardise the websites.

Khazaal, who visited a gambling site in South Africa "out of curiosity" said that, while a country could ban Internet gambling, it could not control all Internet sites and people could still gamble from foreign websites. He said a uniform system of regulation was needed.

"There is a control illusion problem with gambling. People believe the more you gamble the greater the probability is that you will win, but actually there is just more probability that you will lose money," he said.