Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Monday 21 May 2018
A25

Expanded sports betting fuels fears about gambling addiction

By DAVID CRARY of Gamblers Anonymous
WAYNE PARRY and has done extensive
Associated Press work helping others with
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) gambling problems.
— For sports leagues and “I would have gone crazy
gambling industries, the im- with this,” he said of the
minent expansion of legal- online betting possibilities.
ized sports betting promises “I probably would have
a bonanza. For the experts been suicidal.”
and organizations already Natasha Schull, a profes-
concerned about perva- sor of media, culture and
sive problem gambling, it communication at New
promises a whole new ros- York University, has writ-
ter of worries. ten about addictive slot-
Much of the apprehen- machine technology and
sion relates to the prospect expects online sports bet-
of myriad forms of online ting to adopt some of the
sports betting — acces- same features to maximize
sible to gamblers at any its profitability.
time and location via their With in-game wagering,
mobile phones. There’s she said, a sports contest
particular alarm over the “ceases to have boundar-
anticipated explosion of ies as a single event.”
so-called “in-game wa- In this Monday, May 14, 2018 file photo, people make bets in the sports book area of the South “It becomes this constant,
gering” in which gamblers Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. continuous thing that’s so
bet, often at a rapid pace, Associated Press fragmented with all these
on play-by-play develop- had that much high-speed, percent of the U.S. popu- “I told her, ‘You’re crazy,’ things you are predicting
ments — for example, will high-stakes interactive ac- lation, according to Neva but I had a transistor radio and anticipating,” she said.
the next football play be a cess to any sort of betting.” Pryor, who runs New Jer- hidden under the pillow so I “People end up spend-
run or a pass. The council wants any com- sey’s Council on Compul- could follow the score,” he ing more time and money
“You lose track of time,” pany, sports league or gov- sive Gambling. But in New said. than they wanted to.”
said Les Bernal, national ernment that benefits from Jersey, which until recently Now living in Florida, Wex- Another expert alarmed by
director of Stop Predatory sports betting to devote at had the nation’s second- ler says problem-gambling the court decision is Kim-
Gambling . “The goal of the least 1 percent of the rev- largest casino market, that treatment programs should berly Young, director of the
operators is to get you into enue to fund programs pre- figure is over 6 percent. be bracing for a surge of Center for Internet Addic-
a zone where you lose your venting and treating com- And that’s without legal business. “This is going to be tion Recovery in Bradford,
financial reasoning and pulsive gambling. It also sports betting just a click or a volcano two years from Pennsylvania.q
think of nothing except wants betting operators to call away. now, because two years
betting.” train staff about problem “We’re going to be add- is typically how long many
Prior to the U.S. Supreme gambling, set and enforce ing fuel to the fire of an gamblers take before they
Court ruling this week, only a minimum age limit, and already serious problem,” start seeking help,” he said.
four states were allowed to enable gamblers to set lim- Pryor said. Another recovered prob-
offer sports betting and only its on how much time and Calls from people who lem gambler, Marc Lefkow-
Nevada offered betting on money they spend betting. have gotten in over their itz, has similar concerns.
single games. Now that the Whyte is skeptical that heads betting on sports “I’m lucky I quit in 1983,”
court has lifted those bans, state lawmakers and the currently account for 5 per- said Lefkowitz, who re-
there are expectations that gambling industry — even cent of all calls to the coun- cently started a gambling
most states will offer sports if they pay lip service to cil’s 800-GAMBLER hotline, treatment program in Long
betting within a few years problem gambling — will a figure Pryor expects to Beach, Washington. “Back
in a play to raise tax rev- take sufficiently tough ac- increase. then, maybe you could bet
enue. tion. Arnie Wexler, who once by the quarter (of a game).
“We think this is the biggest “The ball’s in their court,” held Pryor’s current job, Now you’re betting every
expansion of gambling he said. “They can rush to knows personally how ad- minute, and that frequency
in our nation’s history, in grab the money and then dictive sports betting can makes it more addictive.”
one fell swoop,” said Keith deal with a wave of in- be. Chuck Bovis of Indianapo-
Whyte, executive director creased addiction, or they His problem was once so lis, on learning of the court
of the National Council on can work with us to try to bad, he says, that on the decision, thought back to
Problem Gambling . “Abso- mitigate the harm.” rare occasion he and his when he gambled heavily
lutely, categorically, there Nationwide, the generally wife had sex, she would on sports in his 20s and 30s.
will be more risk factors for accepted figure for gam- swear she heard a baseball He has quit for the past 18
addiction — we’ve never bling addiction is 2 to 3 game somewhere. years with the steady help