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November 22 - At the tenth annual International Society for Addicted Medicine held in Cape Town this week, a distinguished speaker spoke of his research into the issue of online gambling and the chances of addiction that come with it.
According to Yasser Khazaal, who serves as the Deputy Head of the Division of Addictology at the University Hospital in Geneva, online gambling is more addictive than regular gambling and the number of addicts is growing around the world.
"It is more likely for internet gamblers to become pathological gamblers, warned Khazaal, "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."
Over the years, Khazaal has been studying the affect of internet gambling and has accessed gambling websites to understand this multi billion dollar industry. Khazaal visited a site in South Africa ("out of curiosity", he assured his audience), and called for a uniform regulatory policy to protect gamblers from addictive behavior.
He admitted that it was impossible to control all online sites on the internet, even if online gambling itself could be banned in a country.
South Africa is currently regulating its gambling industry, with moves being made to legalize online gambling in the country for the first time.
"There is a control illusion problem with gambling," said Khazaal. "People believe the more you play, the greater the probability is you will win, but actually there is more probability that you will lose money."
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