When John returns home from work in the evenings, he kisses his wife on the cheek, pats his two young children on the head and makes a beeline for the computer in his family's den. He disappears for hours, unwilling to leave his seat, even for dinner.
John has become mesmerized by the hugely popular pastime of Internet gambling, an addiction that some have compared to that of crack cocaine.
Those who gamble online can easily lose track of the amount of money due to the high-speed decision-making and flashy graphics associated with the games.
One man lost his house, his wife and his two children after only three months of gambling online. During that time, the man acquired $600,000 worth of debt, said Chris Schauble, media director for the Compulsive Gambling Center based in Baltimore.
"His wife had not the slightest idea what he was doing," Schauble said.
The main problem with Internet gambling is that it's easier to hide than most addictions, Schauble said, because it can be done at home in the corner of a bedroom or in the den.
And Internet gambling sites are everywhere. Within seconds, a person can find hundreds of sites simply by typing the phrase "Internet gambling" into a search engine such as Yahoo!.
Companies with names like Prestige Casino and Casino Paradise send notices about their sites to prospective customers through e-mail accounts and flash advertisements just about anywhere online, including sites aimed at helping those suffering from a gambling addiction.
Bets online, anytime
Schauble said compulsive gambling can be tricky to define but easy to spot.
"When you see it, you know it," she said.
Valerie Lorenz, a therapist at the Compulsive Gambling Center, said compulsive gamblers may exhibit these signs:
l a decrease in work productivity,
l an increase in family problems,
l higher rates of crime and suicide,
l and an increase in health problems due to poor nutrition and greater anxiety.
Gambling addicts, whether they bet online or in a casino, share some symptoms.
The addict has lost a large amount of money and spent a great deal of time away from family. In the case of Internet gambling, this person is constantly in front of a computer.
But many differences exist between online trading and traditional gambling venues, Lorenz said.
"At some point, the race track will close," she said. "The computer is always available. You can do it without interruption, and the financial losses tend to be greater."
A person also has access to credit cards at home, while they may not be along for the casino trip. And online gamblers can charge their debt to a card belonging to a spouse or other family member.
"There is very little therapy available, and what is done typically is on an outpatient basis," Lorenz said. "That's inadequate as far as we're concerned."
Therapists at the Compulsive Gambling Center offer telephone counseling for people trying to overcome this addiction, Schauble said. But "you can only do so much on a telephone call," she said.
Lorenz believes this type of counseling doesn't get to the root of the problem. She recommends an intensive residential program where compulsive gamblers are removed from the "toxic or hostile environment" and can concentrate on recovery.
Drawing the line
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, said legislation prohibiting Internet gambling is the best way to deal with the growing problem.
Last year Kyl proposed a bill, The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, that would have made it unlawful for a person to use the Internet "to place, receive or otherwise make a bet or wager." The penalties included a fine in either the amount of the bet or $20,000, whichever is greater, and prison time of not more than four years.
"Internet gambling is a national problem and a federal problem," Kyl said in a statement.
"Nearly four decades ago, Congress passed the Wire Act to prohibit using telephone facilities to receive bets or send gambling information. With the advent of the Internet, the Wire Act is becoming outdated."
Kyl's bill passed the Senate unanimously in 2000, but a version in the U.S. House of Representatives failed to get the votes it needed. Legislators ran out of time to pass the bill, said Andrew Wilder, press secretary for Kyl. But someone could opt to take it up again this year, he said.
William Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, studies the gambling industry for both casinos and consumers. He has witnessed a growth in the number of Internet gambling sites from about 50 a couple of years ago to nearly 800 last year.
The latest national survey found that between 0.8 percent and 2 percent of the gambling population suffered from a compulsive addiction and another 2 percent fell in the severe problem area, he said.
"I think we can only speculate that compulsive gambling is going to increase because gambling is available in the home," Thompson said.
He, however, doesn't think that legislation is the answer.
"They'll find out very shortly that they can't effectively enforce it," he said.
The U.S. government has no way of blocking access for individual computers so that they cannot hook up with online gambling sites, he said.
Thompson thinks the only way for the government to control the problem is to sign agreements with the countries where these companies operate.
Most Internet gambling companies are based in small countries like Costa Rica, Antigua, Cayman Islands and Barbados, he said.
"It's free money for these little islands," Thompson said.
Thompson also points out that the proposed legislation exempts state lotteries, Indian tribe casinos and horse betting. Casinos will argue that so many exceptions to the law are unfair.
Instead, he supports legalized Internet gambling with some regulation.
"I don't think it'll be resolved in the next year or two," he said.
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