ABSTRACT
Online gambling is arguably one of the most important areas in the gambling studies field.
It is an area that is subject to great debate, particularly about its impact, and a variety of
approaches to legalization and regulation have been taken by different jurisdictions.
Despite its increasing prominence, there has been relatively little empirical examination of
these issues. This is partly to be expected with a relatively new and evolving form of
gambling, since it is inevitable that there is lag between development and academic
investigation. Furthermore, significant challenges face researchers seeking to examine
online gambling behaviour, as online gamblers represent a hard-to-reach and sometimes
hidden population. Therefore, research often relies on self-selecting samples and suffers
from attendant problems.
