Online Gambling involves betting on games of chance or skill for money using a computer, laptop or mobile phone connected to the internet. This includes websites dedicated to gambling, as well as social media platforms that have gaming elements such as skin betting. It also includes playing games that have a gambling component in them such as video poker and roulette.

The online gambling industry is regulated in most areas, with licensing bodies overseeing the operations of casinos. However, the lack of regulation in some places means that fraudsters and untrustworthy operators can take advantage of players. This can lead to a variety of problems including poor customer service, unreliable payouts and personal data being stolen.

While in land-based casinos, gambling is often done as a group activity, online gamblers can play at their own convenience and often alone. This isolation can be problematic for people with gambling issues and may make it easier to hide problem behaviour. The availability of gambling sites 24/7 and seemingly unlimited amounts of funds available for bets can also make it easy to lose track of spending and to incur significant losses.

Research needs to consider how the use of online gambling affects the experience and incidence of gambling disorders, and what factors influence this. Online self-exclusion programmes and brief online interventions may be effective and should be incorporated into responsible gambling policies. It is also important to develop longer-term longitudinal research that investigates whether or not early identification and response to risk indicators reduces the number of gambling-related harms sustained by individuals.