The NCAA cites the Internet as the culprit for making it easy for student athletes to place bets on  

college sports

 , because of easy access, virtual anonymity, and lack of supervision. In fact, the NCAA claims that when it comes to college sports student athletes are viewed by organized crime and gambling as easy targets, and that debt to bookies is often leveraged to threaten the well-being of student athletes or manipulate the outcome of games.

Don't believe it? Check out these stats from the National Study on Collegiate Sports Wagering and Associated Health Risks, which polled over 20,000 student athletes:

Of 388 men's basketball players and 2,000 football players involved in collegiate sports, 17 and 102 admitted to at least one of the following, respectively:

• taking money to play poorly in a game in college sports
• knowing a teammate who took money to play poorly in a game in college sports
• being threatened or harmed because of college sports wagering
• being contacted by an outside source to share inside information about college sports
• providing inside information on a game in college sports

Sounds like the odds of trouble when it comes to gambling are the only odds you can count on.

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