Online Casinos Against Gambling Addiction

For many people, gambling is a pleasant and relaxing way to spend time and money. However, in some cases gambling my become a problem. Ludomania, or problem gambling, is a desire to constantly gamble despite the poor outcomes or negative personal and social consequences . Those people who experience any five of the following symptoms may be classified as addictive gamblers:

Tolerance--the person is not satisfied with the regular amount of gambling experiences ,and needs more and more additional gambling

Preoccupation--the person often thinks about gambling and dreams of spending all spare time gambling

Withdrawal--the person becomes irritable and short-tempered when tries to quit or reduce amount of gambling experiences

Chasing--the person gambles more hoping to compensate for the loses and win more money

Escape--the person gambles to escape the problems in personal and social life

Loss of control--the person cannot control amount of gambling

Lying--the person tries to hide the passion for gambling

Illegal acts--the person violates the law in order to obtain money for gambling

Bailout--the person seeks financial help at the third party, such as family, friends or pawn shops, to compensate for the losses and continue gambling.

Risked significant relationship--the person gambles despite the risk of losing any significant relationships

Some casinos use aggressive promoting strategies to engage as many problematic gamblers as possible. However, many online casinos commit to responsible gambling and try to help problem gamblers as much as they can. They give an option to limit the balance that can be wagered during one gambling session, refer problem gamblers to the various organizations, such as GamCare or Gamblers Anonymous, and provide an opportunity for players to self-exclude form the casino.

In case the player wants to know in advance whether the online casino provides support to problem gamblers, they should take a look at the online casino reviews in the keytocasino.com database. For those casinos that care about gamblers, there is a tag 'Gambler Support' in the 'Ownership and Associations' tab of the review. Those online casinos that have a tag 'Parental Control' also refer the players to various filtering systems that may be installed on the personal computer to protect family members who are under the legal age from accessing the casinos and other unwanted materials. Overall, there are 419 casinos that offer Gambler Support and 158 casinos that recommend Parental Control systems out of 670 online casinos reviewed. Good casinos such a Coral Casino offer both options.

Online Casinos Did Not Create Surge in Gambling Addiction

The policies of legislators on online gambling are hugely different from country to country. In the United States online gambling is mostly banned, and players spend most of their time in land-based casinos or engaged in social gambling activities over the internet which doesn't involve any real money. In Europe, the policies are much different - in most countries of the European Union online gambling is regulated based on a common framework, generating significant tax income for their respective governments. There is one problem that holds back the creation of unified legal frameworks for the world's governments on online gambling, though - the widespread belief that easy access to gambling outlets online will create a surge in gambling addiction. But science has proven that this is far from being the truth. A study conducted by the Harvard Medical School's Division on Addiction has found no evidence of this claim.

The team from Harvard took a good look on problem gambling statistics for the last 35 years to observe any tendency of growth in the number of problem gamblers. Online casinos were first introduced in the mid 1990s, so if they have the potential to create a gambling addiction boom, it should have shown up in the statistics so far. But the researchers have found that despite the increased availability of online gambling, the instances of gambling addiction have remained constant in the time period they studied.

This means that even if people play slot games at any online casino each day, they generally don't fall into excess and become problem gamblers at all. And casinos go to lengths to increase their user base - the Royal Vegas, for example, offers its players free bets, deposit matches, promotions and specials each month, not to mention their library of over 700 exciting games to play. More importantly, professinal casinos like Royal Vegas have excellent player support. Players who might feel that they have a gambling problem can contact casino support and request that a daily deposit limit be set on their account in order to help them curb their spending. Players can also close their account quickly. But most importantly, these online casinos are committed to promoting responsible online gambling and hence are approved and certified by important bodies such as eCOGRA, indicating that they engage in safe gambling practices.

The Division on Addiction of the Harvard Medical School has conducted a survey on the gambling behavior of over 4,000 online gamblers - the largest batch ever to be surveyed in a scientific study. Their findings were interesting: the number of players who have exhibited "intense gambling behavior that far exceeded the rest of the sample" was only between 1% and 5%. The study has concluded that the surge in problem gambling the anti-online-gambling activists like to use in their rhetoric is not caused by online casinos.

But let's take a look at the numbers, shall we? According to a recent estimate, gamblers have lost about $475 billion worldwide in casinos. And the percentage of cash lost at online casinos is a minuscule part of the total - not even 10%. Players in the United States (where access to online gambling is restricted to just a handful of states) have lost a staggering $109 billion in 2013 alone. And about 80% of the Americans gamble at least once a year.

Gambling addiction treatment

For those who are worried that their gambling addiction will never be treated, the following are some of the gambling addiction treatment options that help you to get rid of the problem.

Medication:

There is medication available, which helps to get rid of gambling addiction. These include anti- depressants and mood stabilizers. However, these medicines should be strictly consumed under the guidance of a psychiatrists or your family doctor as anything excess of these medications can lead to serious consequences on your physical as well as your mental health.

Psychotherapy:

This is one of the most effective treatments for gambling addiction. In this person suffering gambling addiction is brainwashed and hence learn to analyze his/her addictive gambling and compulsive behavior, which in turn helps the person to get rid of the problem.

Counseling:

Expert advice always helps. Various certified counselors advise people suffering from gambling addiction on how to control their impulsive behavior and advise them in resolving their financial crises and debt management.

These were some of the best treatment options available for people suffering gambling addiction. If you play casino games online there are some sites which are against gambling addictions, which are limiting the deposit sum a person can deposit, and help control the situation. But in any case, if you are one of those people who are looking to get rid of gambling addiction then it is advisable that you follow the above treatment options.

Treatment for Gambling Addiction

Several experts state that it is difficult for a person to accept the fact that he/she has a gambling problem. This in turn makes it difficult to treat the problem as it becomes difficult to know whether a person is really suffering from gambling addiction. However, the good thing is that treatment for gambling addiction exists and a person doesn’t need to divulge his/her identity. The best way to treat gambling addiction is to talk about the problem with someone especially with a loved one or close friends. If you are not feeling comfortable talking to others, then it is better to discuss with members of gambling charities. If the above-mentioned tips don’t work, then there are other treatments available such as undergoing psychological therapies and counseling. Doing this will help you to identify the main cause behind the gambling addiction. Group support is helpful as they help people with similar disorders to talk and sort out the problem as they get the support of others. Apart from these, there are several other self-help techniques, which can help people to come out from their gambling addiction. These include, giving out the bankcards or credit cards to people who you trust. For safe gambling, you can go to WJMC, and get all the tips and info.

Responsible Gaming for Bingo Players

When it comes to playing bingo online, it is easy to forget that bingo is also a forming of gambling. Responsible gaming means staying in control while having fun on your favourite sites. We asked the team of Online Bingo, casino and bingo review site to share with us their top tips for How to Bet Online and being a responsible player. Being a responsible player will ensure you enjoy your time more and keep your spending under control.

So how can you be more responsible?

Set Gaming Limits
Most reputable and trusted sites today make it easy for you to set daily, weekly and monthly deposit limits. Basically, you can limit yourself so that you never go over your comfort level. This might be $20 or £20 per week or $500 / £500. All up to you and how much you are comfortable with.

Account Cool Off
Sites that take responsible gaming seriously also make it easy for their players to request account cool off - this means, you can take a break from the site for a specific period of time. Once you request this, you won't be able to login to your account for the specified period.

Be Aware of Your Limits
For some, playing bingo becomes a problem and it's always good to keep these points in mind:

• Never gamble under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Do not play bingo to recover your losses or chase a particular pay off ... the house always win
• Never gamble if it interferes with your daily responsibilities to family, friends and work

Getting Further Help
Fortunately, there are communities and organisations that can also help if you find yourself in trouble or feel as if you're developing a problem with gambling.

• Excellent tip on how to protect yourself from playing online bingo
• Gamble Aware
• GamCare
• GamAid
• Gamblers Anonymous
• Gambling Therapy
• Google Family Safety - an excellent tool that helps you block sites

Hopefully you found the above tips valuable. check it out for more information about responsible gambling.