Online Gambling is the use of computer technology to place bets on games of chance. It is a popular pastime and can be very addictive. It can cause a range of harms including financial stress, relationship breakdown, family violence and mental illness. It can also lead to criminal activity such as money laundering and the erosion of civil institutions through corruption and corporate political activities.

There are many ways to protect yourself from gambling online, including identifying your problem and taking steps to address it. Some people find it helpful to self-exclude from online casinos or other gambling sites for a period of days, weeks or months. This can help you refocus and put your life back in balance. Alternatively, you can use a content blocker to stop yourself from gambling while using your computer or mobile phone. It’s also possible to ban yourself from playing at local clubs, pubs and the TAB.

A wide variety of factors influence gambling behaviour, and this is largely true for both offline and online gambling. However, within the selected articles very little attention was given to the role of contextual and relational variables. For example, studies have shown that having problems in life contexts such as academia is associated with a greater likelihood of being a problematic gambler. Similarly, studies have reported that women tend to gamble more than men. However, there is limited evidence of gender differences in the characteristics of problematic gamblers as the vast majority of research has focused on comparisons between offline and online non-problematic and problematic gamblers.