Social Gaming in the Spotlight

With there being so many types of wagering options on the internet right now it certainly pays to choose the right one.

A recent report from The Daily Mail suggests that social media gaming is one area which could create long term problems for anyone who gets into a habit of having a flutter on them.

The games which you will find on the likes of Facebook let you play games just for fun, with no cash at stake. However, there is also expected to soon be the option of putting down real money and gambling for real.

Millions of Young Users play on social sites

It is the ease with which youngsters can take part in these real wagers which is worrying many people. It is stated in the newspaper’s report that there are around 3 million Facebook users in the UK between the ages of 13 and 17, with maybe a million more under the age of 13 but using a false age to appear older than they really are.

Dr Carolyn Downs of the University of Salford was quoted in the report as saying that children who begin to gamble at a young age are far more likely to have gambling problems in the future. She also spoke of the personal experience she had of her own daughter becoming upset at losing her virtual money on a social network game.

It is believed that Facebook bosses meet recently to work out ways to offer real money gambling to its users. There may be licensing problems before it can take off in the UK, though. Mandy Barrie, who is the Policy and Development Director for the UK Gambling Commission, has already said that we need to “think through very carefully” how to proceed in the world of social network gambling.