Activists fear social, economic costs of online gambling

To many of Maryland's gamblers, it won't matter if or when slot machines arrive.

The spell of the Internet already gives them the opportunity to bet when they want - sometimes illegally - on Web sites from the privacy of their home.

"For me it's pretty relaxing," said Craig, an Annapolis resident who declined to give his last name.

The 27-year-old said he plays online blackjack through CasinoFortune.com once or twice a week in 90-minute sessions.

"I do other things at the same time," he said. "It's sort of therapeutic in a way."

Anti-gambling activists fear that the estimated 1,800 Internet gambling Web sites...