Hours in front of the computer and a good understanding of probability may yield more than an A in statistics for Harvard students willing to try their luck in internet casinos.

Online gambling, the easy-access phenomenon that allows internet users to place bets in games such as roulette, poker and blackjack, has become a job substitute and even an addiction for some students.

“I’d say on average I play 10 to 15 hours a week, max 30,” said Jason J. Wen ’05, an economics concentrator who plays at a $100 dollar buy-in.

Wen would not disclose the specifics of his profits or losses, but said he makes enough money playing poker that he does not need a campus job.

Last year, the internet gambling industry grossed $4 billion. Young people are particularly susceptible to developing an online gambling addiction, said gambling expert and Whittier Law School Professor I. Nelson Rose.

“It’s in the privacy of your own home or dorm room so you can get away with more,” Rose said. “And unlike, say, drinking, there’s no smell of alcohol on your breath. And of course, younger people are more comfortable with using computers.”

He added that gambling laws aren’t up-to-date enough to restrict the online activity, which is operated by offshore companies.

Some students, like social studies concentrator Jonathan S. Chavez ’05, said the risk of an online gambling addiction is not worth the payoff.

“I’m not doing it during the school year,” Chavez said. “Because if I started doing it I wouldn’t stop.”

In what he called a “dehumanizing” experience, Chavez said he gambled for three weeks last summer for around 10 hours a day, and made enough money to sustain himself this semester.

Alex J. Lee ’06, an applied math and economics concentrator who plays at $100 dollar buy-ins, said that he didn’t need a campus job last year because of his online poker winnings. Lee said he has scaled down his online poker commitment this school year.

“Even though you may win a good amount of money online there’s no reason not to get a job, because you may lose it all,” Lee said.

Economics concentrator Daniel L. Goodkin ’06 said it’s difficult to balance the risky life of a gambler and the demanding life of a student.

“It’s hard to keep focused on the rest of life when you’ve just lost a couple of thousand dollars,” he said.

Goodkin, who used to play 10 to 15 hours a week, said he now wants to spend his time improving his GPA for law school admissions and hanging out with friends.