Problem Gamblers Not Helped by Online Casino Ban

By asking Congress to refuse to regulate online gambling, Hogan was inadvertently creating opportunity for another child like his son to slip into an Internet casino.

When a story of a life torn apart is told, everybody feels empathy. And the natural instinct for those who care about the afflicted is to strike out against the method of his destruction. But the method is not necessarily the cause, nor is the obvious solution always the most effective.

Reverend Gregory Hogan, Sr., testified before the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. Congress during the debates over Barney Frank's bill which would set aside the UIGEA. He told the story of his son, who compulsively gambled at online casinos, losing until his financial desperation drove him to rob a bank.

Hogan admitted he spoke as a father, not as an expert on Internet gambling. But he offered the opinion that his son's ruin while still in high school could not have happened in a land casino or even by lottery ticket, as he was underage.

Only online was he able to run up massive debts. Hogan concluded his story, and begged the assembled Congressmen to retain the UIGEA.

The only problem is that the simple answer is not always the right one, and the method is not the cause.

By asking Congress to refuse to regulate online gambling, Hogan was inadvertently creating opportunity for another child like his son to slip into an Internet casino. The UIGEA hasn't prevented dishonest or shady websites from operating. It has simply forced the legitimate businesses to turn elsewhere.

Just as land casinos turn away gamblers under 21, so too could regulated online gambling sites, giving a level of control to government regulators that is nonexistent presently.Aban leaves outlaws calling the shots, while regulation would put age enforcement, among other things, in the hands of the government and more responsible operators, like the Las Vegas casino empires.

Further, research in countries around the world in the last few years has shown that problem gambling is a symptom, not a cause. Removing gambling from the equation doesn't cure the patient, it only causes the root disease to manifest itself in a different way, usually other addictive behavior.

Any human being would have to feel for Reverend Hogan. But blaming online gambling for starting his problem, and then seeking to ban it, are just not the proper responses.