1. Internet gambling among youth: Should
we be concerned?
Jeffrey L. Derevensky, Ph.D.
Professor, School/Applied Child
Psychology
Professor, Psychiatry
International Centre for Youth Gambling
Problems and High-Risk Behaviors
McGill University
www.youthgambling.com
National Center for Responsible Gaming
Las Vegas, November, 2010

2. Problem Severity Continuum

3. The new face of Internet
gambling

16. Joe Cada, age 21, Community College dropout, winner
World Series of Poker, 2009, $8.55 million

17. Jonathan Duhamel, age 23, University dropout, winner
World Series of Poker, 2010, $8.944 million

19. www.pokerstars.net

20. Wagering via the Internet
• Poker/card games
• Casino games
• Sports wagering
• Reality shows
• Celebrity adoptions, arrests, etc.
• Any form of contest/Political race

28. Adolescent Internet use…

29. Internet Use Media Awareness Network, 2009
• In Canada, 99% of youth age 9-17 reported use of Internet, 94%
have Internet access at home; 61% report having high speed
access
• 37% report having their own Internet connections
• 89% of grade 4 school students play games on the Internet
• Where no household rules exist for Internet use, 74% report an
adult was never present when the child was on the Internet
• 94% of students’ top 50 Internet sites include marketing material
• Large percentage of adolescents report observing Internet
gambling pop-up messages & believe they were the target
(Derevensky et al., 2008)

30. What we know about the Internet
• Access is widespread
• Access is inexpensive
• Internet is anonymous
• Internet is convenient
• Internet is entertaining
• Internet is used for many purposes

31. Prevalence Findings of Internet Wagering
• Vary considerably
• Dependent upon method & date of data
collection
• Dependent upon population studied
• Difficulties collecting data have been
articulated by Wood & Williams (2009)

32. Is Internet gambling problematic?

33. Some clinical evidence

37. Are Internet gamblers more likely to
have problems?
Wood & Williams (2007) - Sample of on-line
adult gamblers
• Non-problem gamblers: 34%
• At-risk gamblers: 24%
• Moderate problem gamblers: 23%
• Severe problem gamblers: 20%
• 2/3 of those respondents gambling on the
Internet are likely to have problems

38. Two Internet gambling studies
2004-2006

39. Frequency of Play on Internet Gambling Sites Without Money
in the Past 12 Months by Gambling Severity
Internet Gambling
Without Money1
N = 2205
Yes No
(n = 1082) (n = 1123)
Gambling Groups***
Non Gambler n = 726 33.9 66.1
Social Gambler n = 1278 56.6 43.4
At-Risk Gambler n = 129 74.4 25.6
Probable
n = 72 80.6 19.4
Pathological Gambler
Total 49.1 50.9
1Percentage.
***p<.001.

40. Frequency of Play on Internet Gambling Sites With Money
in the Past 12 Months by Gambling Severity
Internet Gambling
With Money1
N = 2292
Yes No
(n = 183) (n = 2109)
Gambling Groups***
Non Gambler n = 745 0 100
Social Gambler n = 1333 9.5 90.5
At-Risk Gambler n = 139 21.6 78.4
Probable
n = 75 34.7 65.3
Pathological Gambler
Total 8.0* 92.0
1Percentage *13.1% males; 4.6% females are gambling on Internet

42. Follow-up study (McBride & Derevensky, 2007)
• Montreal high-school students: N =
1113
• Canadian and U.S. college and
university students: N = 1273
• On-line gaming newsletter link: N = 546

43. Use of “Demo/Practice” Sites

44. Gambling for Money on Internet

45. Gambling for Money on Internet
Frequency

46. Gambling Severity by Sample

47. Reasons Youth Gamble on Internet

48. A new study (Meerkamper, 2010)

53. National Annenberg Survey of Youth
(Romer, 2010)
N=835 (2008) N=596 (2010)
At least once per month
• Internet gambling among males 14-17 rose from 2.7% (2008) to
6.2% (2010)
• Internet gambling among males 18-22 rose from 4.4% (2008) to
16.0% (2010)
• Internet gambling among females 14-17 rose from 0.5% (2008)
to 1.5% (2010)
• Internet gambling among males 18-22 rose from 0.0% (2008) to
4.4% (2010)

54. National Annenberg Survey of Youth
(Romer, 2010)
N=835 (2008) N=596 (2010)
Weekly
• Internet gambling among males 14-17 decreased from 0.9%
(2008) to 0.0% (2010)
• Internet gambling among males 18-22 rose from 2.9% (2008) to
3.8% (2010)
• Internet gambling among females 14-17 stayed the same at
0.0% (2008) and 0.0% (2010)
• Internet gambling among females 18-22 rose from 0.0% (2008)
to 1.3% (2010)

55. Responsible advertising???

58. Celebrity endorsements….

60. Parental behaviors….

61. Parental
percep+ons:
Serious
Youth
Issues

62. Issues
Impac+ng
Children

63. Does the Internet contribute to problem
gambling among youth?
• There is good news and bad news
• The good news:
– Fewer youth than adults gamble on the Internet
• The bad news:
– More youth are playing on “demo/practice” sites than
sites for real money
– The reasons they give are “for practice”
– 1/3 of the youth who are gambling for money are
problem gamblers
• Does “practice make perfect”?
– Is it just a matter of time before the “practice” players
switch to gambling for real money?

64. Conclusions
• Playing on Internet gambling sites without
money is a common practice amongst
adolescents and young adults
• At-Risk and PPGs play on Internet with and
without money more often than non-gamblers
and social gamblers
• 22% of university students who do not
gamble for money (either on or off the
Internet) report playing on practice sites.
• Gateway to gambling?

65. • Internet wagers for money increases with
severity of gambling problems
• Most money won and lost increases by
gambling severity
• What is not known is how the easy
accessibility of practice sites and appeal of
“free” gambling games contribute to
development of problem gambling

66. Some concerns