Online Gambling Craze: The Downward Spiral into Debt and Addiction
You know, it was all fun and games for this guy I knew, Jason. He used to hit the casino with his pals, sometimes play a round of poker, or maybe even bet on a game or two. It wasn’t an issue at all until the world got hit by the pandemic. That was when his home state, Illinois, went ahead and made sports betting legal, expanding all sorts of gambling activities. Suddenly, it was like you couldn’t escape from the gambling ads everywhere — those things were like a siren call to Jason, especially in 2020 when he was going through some rough personal stuff. He thought, “”Why not blow off some steam at the casino?””
But then, before you know it, the dude got hooked on the online scene. Compared to the brick-and-mortar casinos, the digital world was way more convenient. He loved that he could gamble anytime, anywhere, right from his phone — no questions asked. “”I didn’t have to explain my whereabouts to anyone, and I could play whenever I felt like it,”” he’d say https://gambleverdict.com/.
Thing is, even though sports betting got the green light, online gambling was still sitting in that legal gray area in Illinois. Jason wasn’t sure if he was on the right side of the law, but since everyone seemed to be doing it, it didn’t feel all that weird to him anymore. So there he was, gambling at 3 AM while his kids were asleep, then waking up and doing it all over again. This year? Not a single day passed without Jason placing some bets online bbc.
Eventually, after blowing through a whopping two hundred grand, he faced the music in May and admitted he was struggling with addiction. But even then, he didn’t think he was as bad off as others. After joining Gamblers Anonymous, he heard stories that made his situation seem like a walk in the park — folks losing their homes and living out of their cars.
It’s wild how gambling has just exploded in the States. Over twenty states now have casinos, compared to just nine back in 2001. The same number have legalized sports betting, and there’s this big push for online casinos to get the go-ahead, too.
Politicians keep saying that legalizing gambling is good for the economy, that it lets the government keep a closer eye on the industry and help out those who get addicted grandiose. It’s a tough argument to challenge, but it’s not clear if state agencies are really taking this responsibility seriously.
With gambling becoming so pervasive, anyone with a phone could be at risk. Experts have noticed how there’s been a rise in betting, online casinos, and even crypto deals all at the same time. It’s like if you’re into one, you might get sucked into the others, too.
Lucas Trautman, a big-shot medical director over at the Oxford Treatment Center in Mississippi and a specialist in gambling addiction Top Gambling Nations: Who’s Betting Big?, said, “”It’s a problem that’s ballooned right under our noses.””
Then there’s Cindi M., a member and spokesperson for Gamblers Anonymous, who’s seen a massive uptick in young gamblers hitting up their meetings — especially since online gambling became legal in Illinois. She’s seen first-hand how it’s impacted the younger crowd — her sons told her all their friends are into it now.
Stats from the National Council on Problem Gambling show that over 40% of folks aged 18 to 44 gambled last year, while only 21% of those 45 to 54 did the same. And get this — a quarter of them started gambling even more during the pandemic.
“”They’ve got access to it non-stop, right on their phones. The temptation is always there. You might stay away from a casino, but you can’t really escape your own phone,”” Cindi pointed out.
Keith Whyte, the head honcho at Gamblers Anonymous, says it’s way easier for people to get hooked and make big bets now.
“”No doubt about it — the easy access to these games is definitely fueling the addiction and making it worse,”” he said.
In January, New York jumped on the bandwagon and made online gambling legal. People there poured over $1.6 billion into it, more than any other state in their first month. But Ashley Owen from the NYC Problem Gambling Resource Center cbc is struggling to make folks take this addiction seriously. It’s harder to spot because gamblers don’t show physical symptoms like drug addicts do, and they can play from home without their families having a clue.
“”We call it the hidden addiction. Anyone with a smartphone can get into these games,”” she continued.
And man, I talked to this middle-aged dude from Chicago who told Motherboard that his wife had no idea about his gambling addiction until they decided to fix up their backyard.
The whole mess started when he lost one of his jobs at the beginning of the pandemic and needed to make some extra cash to support his wife and three kids. A buddy recommended an online poker app. At first, he told his wife he’d picked up poker as a hobby; it seemed harmless. But then she noticed he was putting money into their joint account from time to time, and she didn’t mind since it seemed like he was winning How to beat online casino: strategies and recommendations.
