Gambling advisory service GamCare has warned that students, in an effort to relieve their growing debts, are turning to online gambling and in particular poker. One US study has apparently found that 7.8% of students have a gambling problem, with some debts amounting to $30,000. The University of Lincoln, in the UK, has mentioned that, in some, instances, it has escalated to students blowing their whole loans online in an attempt to prepare for the debts. A lack of risk assessment, money management and even a lack in GP’s knowledge of the problem as an actual addiction have all been cited as reasons for the issue arising in such a way in recent years.
In the UK, although the University of London has “expressed concern” and given credence to the warnings put forward by Gamcare (along with Manchester Metropolitan University and the Salvation Army), it seems that much of the evidence is, as yet, largely anecdotal. Any ex-student will know, however, how the lure of gambling can take hold, especially when large debts are mounting and loans don’t arrive on time. In the modern age where every student must own a laptop with an internet connection to survive, it just gets easier too.