Americans Gambling Online


Figures from a phone survey of 3,035 American Internet users from March 1 through June 30 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project show that some 4.5 million Americans have gambled online or played a lottery. That''s about 5% of those who have online access.

On a typical day, about 1 million Americans gamble or play a lottery. The two figures suggest that the universe of Internet gamblers is relatively small, but their fervor is keen. Apparently, there are lots of repeat gamblers.

The survey showed that weekend days are slightly more popular than weekdays for gambling and that the most frequent gamblers are those who have just a high school education. More middle age people (those between ages 30 and 50) gamble than young adults (those under 30).

Men and women gamble online in roughly equal proportions and there are no significant differences among the races in gambling behavior.

The most experienced and frequent Internet users are the most likely to gamble. Those who have been online for three years or more and those who log on frequently are twice as likely to gamble as those who are newcomers to the Internet.