Despite the introduction the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by the US Congress introducing in 2006 to effectively prohibit online gaming in the North-American continent, students in the USA seem to be engaging in online gambling much more than before.

The telephone study, which was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Adolescent Communication Institute in 2010, polled those in the 14-22 age bracket to study the effect of UIGEA on adoloscents in the US. This law made the transfer of funds from a financial institution to Internet gambling sites illegal.

A total of 400,000 college male students gamble regularly every week, adding to an incredible amount of 1.7 million students per month. This indicates that payment restrictions on gambling sites are not really a barrier to young people, as said by Institute director Dan Romer.

The study found that 6.2% of high school students gamble online each month, up from 2.7% in 2008. Moreover, some 16% of male college students now gambling online, up from just 4.4% in 2008 while the rate of female high scholars who gamble online each month also saw an increase from 0.5% to 1.5%.

This research also identified that the most popular gaming online seems to be card playing, but horseracing sites are also sought-after by youngsters. “Young people must surely be confused by the inconsistent messages sent by our conflicting laws regarding online gambling,” noted Don Romer, Director of the Institute that conducted the study. “Why someone should be allowed to bet on a horse race but not a card game or other sports event is not altogether obvious.”