Online Gambling involves placing a bet or wager on games of chance via the internet. It can involve sports betting, casino games, poker, and other types of online lotteries. It is legal and regulated in some states of the United States, some provinces of Canada, most countries in the European Union, and several nations in the Caribbean. In order to provide a secure and fair gambling experience, the online gaming industry has implemented various measures to control its operations. These include self-exclusion programs, player protections, and financial counseling.

In addition to risking financial loss, problem gamblers may become isolated from friends and family due to their obsession with gambling. This can lead to strained relationships and serious emotional distress. Furthermore, problem gamblers may become susceptible to scams and frauds. This is because dishonest operators often create fake websites or apps to steal personal and banking information from unsuspecting users.

Despite the popularity of online gambling, little is known about its risk factors in the general population. In this study, a systematic literature review of the risk and protective factors for online gambling was conducted using three different academic databases. The search was limited to peer-reviewed articles that analyzed the association between online gambling and a number of socioanalytic variables. However, only a few papers used representative samples and most of the studies were cross-sectional, thus limiting the potential for understanding the relationship between variables. On the other hand, variables acting at the context level were hardly explored in the selected articles.