It will mean playing a hand of poker while sipping a cup of joe at the breakfast table. It will mean spinning the roulette wheel on a commuter train rumbling toward Manhattan. It will mean yanking the one-arm bandit from the comfort of the living room sofa, a Sunday afternoon football game on in the background.
But to others, it could mean hunching over a glowing computer screen in a dark basement, playing a half-dozen hands of poker at a time as a life’s savings slips into oblivion. It could mean gambling addicts unable to escape their vice will be followed around by a casino that fits in their pocket.
At least that is the fear of advocates worried about compulsive gamblers. While regulators and casino executives say countless new safeguards will be a part of online betting — more than could ever exist in casinos — those advocates think digital gaming will create a new generation of addicts and draw those in recovery back to the table.
