![]() “It’s really, really dangerous,” he said, noting he had contacted a few websites during his recovery and asked to be blocked, but they had allowed him to reopen his accounts after he relapsed. “You can do it 24/7 from right on your phone,” said one recovered gambling addict, a 38-year-old man who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was about to embark on a job search. Warnings, often in small fonts, that caution visitors to online sports books and gambling websites about the risks of addiction are easily overlooked. This can lead young people to underestimate the addictive nature of sports betting and other forms of gambling. Sex, drugs and alcohol are commonly covered in school and in the coming-of-age conversations that parents have with their children, but discussions about the consequences of gambling are rare, former gamblers and experts said. The increased accessibility of online gambling may accelerate the development of problems, he said - a phenomenon known as telescoping. Young adults are at particular risk for developing a gambling problem, especially if there is a family history of gambling or if they are introduced to it at a young age, Dr. The risk of addiction is higher for young adults - specifically sports bettors - than for those of any other age, the survey found.Īccording to, a subgroup of the International Center for Responsible Gaming, 6 percent of college students in the United States have a serious gambling problem that can lead to psychological difficulties, unmanageable debt and failing grades. According to a new survey commissioned by the National Council on Problem Gambling, sports bettors showed significantly higher levels of problematic gambling than other gamblers. Studies have shown that sports bettors are typically male, under 35, single, educated and employed or preparing for a career. Fong, who is a director of the Gambling Studies Program at U.C.L.A.Ī vast majority of those with a serious gambling problem never seek or gain access to treatment, he said. ![]() But about 1 percent of American adults have a gambling disorder, in which the core symptom is continuing to gamble despite harmful consequences, said Dr. ![]() Most adults who bet on sports do so without major negative consequences. “March Madness” basketball tournaments, which reach a climax with the Final Four stage for the women on Friday and the men on Saturday. The Gaming Association expects 47 million Americans to place bets on the N.C.A.A. In many states, people can legally and conveniently wager money using their smartphones, betting on point spreads or results, or placing so-called proposition bets on events like the coin toss or which color of Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach.Īmericans wagered $13 billion on sports with legal operators in 2019, according to the American Gaming Association, the industry’s trade group, with popular events like the Super Bowl whipping bettors into a frenzy. It is now legal in 21 states and Washington, D.C. Long restricted to Nevada, sports betting expanded rapidly after the Supreme Court overturned federal prohibitions against it in 2018. “It’s created this new form of entertainment that society has approved, but that form of entertainment does have a potential for addiction.” Timothy Fong, a professor of psychiatry with specialty in addiction at the University of California, Los Angeles. “We’re now in a phase where the nation has an appetite for sports betting,” said Dr. And yet he has come to have plenty of company as policy shifts and technological advances have made it easier than ever to wager money on sports.Īnalysts and recovery advocates worry that efforts to research the long-term implications of legal sports betting and warn participants about the risks for addiction are falling short, particularly for people in their late teens and early 20s who are most vulnerable. Malek, now 23 and living in Houston, said he had never considered that sports betting could escalate to an addiction that would lead him to lie, cheat and manipulate people for money.
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