Online Gambling Numbers Are Low In Iowa

A recent study by the Iowa Department of Public Health shows that only 5% of Iowa residents have gambled online in their lives, and only 2% have done so in the past 12 month.

The study of 1,700 adults took place between February and May of 2011. While 91% of Iowa residents admit to gambling, the number of people who gamble online is small.

The study also shows that 69% of Iowans have gambled within the past year and 42% admitted to gambling within the past month. Of the 1,700 respondents, 80% say they enjoy the entertainment aspect of gambling.

Recently Iowa legislators took up the issue of legalizing online gambling. The issue is still sitting in wait and may see debate and a vote next year.

A researcher who was associated with the report commented on gambling in Iowa, saying: “I think gambling is a part of our culture. "That’s true in Iowa and that’s true in pretty much every state across the country, (the report) speaks to how integrated it has become, how accepted it has become in our culture in Iowa. It’s no longer something that is happening in back rooms."

"Not a lot of Iowans are gambling on the Internet in the general population and there are not a lot of Iowans who have sought out treatment from us that are gambling on the Internet,” he continued. “What will happen if it’s legalised and that door is open, it’s hard to definitively say because there isn’t a (US) state where you can draw on an example where that has happened before.”