UNLV associate professor Kathryn LaTour is another in a long list of social professionals that think it’s time to legalize online gambling. She has done a study that says the best option is to legalize online gambling and use the money to help problem gamblers and to stop underage players.

“It should be regulated,” LaTour said. “When you get deeper into it, it’s a battlefield. The integration of online gambling in the home can more easily turn gambling behavior into a component of a consumer’s everyday life, like watching television.”

Despite the negative results internet gambling can produce, the damage can be limited if regulations are put into place. The report is called “Blackjack in the Kitchen: Understanding Online Versus Casino Gambling,” and will be published in February in the Journal of Consumer Research. The funding for the study did not come from the gaming industry, but from a hotel school.