Not surprised. No online betting when I was in college, but lots of sports wagering.

More time spent online, more states legalizing sports betting and an increase in gambling-like elements in videogames contribute to problems

Jonathan Jones traces his gambling struggles back to a videogame he played in the fifth grade.

Using lunch money or stealing small amounts from his parents, he would buy gaming gift cards and redeem them to spin a virtual wheel of fortune to collect prizes, such as weapons or armor, that could help him win the game, Zu Online, which is now discontinued. He would keep paying to spin again and again, a behavior that he says became compulsive and continued into other games.

By the time he was 20, Mr. Jones says he had spent nearly $40,000 playing videogames and entered a residential treatment program for videogame addiction.

Gaming and gambling problems are surfacing among young men, and increasingly, teen boys, say counselors, therapists and addiction experts. They cite the rise in time spent online during the pandemic, the legalization of sports betting in a growing number of states, and the increasing presence of gambling-like elements in videogames.

“There’s been a big surge of younger and younger people” in gambling support and recovery programs, says Marc Lefkowitz, who chairs the recovery committee for the National Council on Problem Gambling. One addiction-group moderator observed that there were so many young men at a recent meeting that the parking lot looked like a fraternity gathering.

Teens are affected, too. The number of 11th and 12th grade males experiencing gambling problems, such as lying about how much they lost, or being unable to control their gambling, rose to 8.3% in 2022 from 4.2% in 2018, according to one survey of 7,500 7th through 12th graders in Wood County, Ohio.


The line between gambling and videogaming is blurring, say those who research and treat problem gambling.


People who research and treat problem gambling say the line between gambling and videogaming is blurring. Videogames, which are often played on smartphones as well as computers and game consoles, include features that mimic gambling activities like roulette and slot machines.

William Ivoska, an addiction researcher who has been conducting the biennial survey in Ohio on youth gambling since 2014, says videogames can start off as free to play but require purchases to increase chances of winning. One common feature, he says, is a loot box, which can be purchased with an adult’s credit or debit card and can include virtual items, like swords or uniforms, that increase players’ abilities.

“Problematic gaming among adolescents can lead to problematic gambling as an adolescent and as an adult,” Dr. Ivoska says.

For those over 21, the legalization of mobile sports betting in 26 states has made wagering easily available by downloading smartphone apps.

Young men, who tend to be impulsive and overconfident, are particularly at risk when it comes to sports betting, says Jeff Derevensky, director of the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors. Players can place multiple bets, such as the number of passes completed by a quarterback, rather than just betting on the final score, compounding losses, he says.

Jesse Suh, a clinical psychologist in Philadelphia, says more male college students are coming in for treatment, often at the insistence of parents who discover tuition money and other college expenses have gone toward sports betting and other gambling. Online sports betting is legal in Pennsylvania for those 21 and older.



These young men “have distorted thinking that they are in control and can predict the outcome,” he says, adding that they have easy access to money but don’t really understand the degree of their spending. “It’s hard to recognize the value of money with online transactions,” he says.

To many parents, drugs and alcohol are a bigger worry than gambling. Plenty of young adults and teens bet as a social activity and most don’t develop problems.

Some addiction counselors, educators and parents are calling for gambling to be included in substance-abuse education. This year, Virginia passed the first state law requiring all public schools to teach students about the risk of gambling. Several other states, including North Carolina and Wisconsin where some forms of gambing are legal, as is the case in Virginia, have gambling-prevention and -education programs for middle schools and high schools.

The American Gaming Association, which represents casinos and gaming vendors, says its members have responsible protocols in place, including age verification, to thwart underage gambling.



The Entertainment Software Association, which represents the videogame industry, says gaming is not the same as gambling, which involves chance. Videogamers receive items in loot boxes or from prize wheels that enhance their experience, it says. Parental controls are also available on consoles and other devices to limit or restrict a child from making purchases within games.

Young people with gambling addictions often start with compulsive play on videogames as a way to cope with depression and anxiety, says Hilarie Cash, founding member and chief clinical officer of reSTART, which offers residential and outpatient gaming addiction treatment.

Mr. Jones, now 25, says his parents didn’t know the extent of his gambling, or that he used videogames to escape depression and anxiety. He was a star athlete and straight-A student, so his parents considered the games as a way he could unwind. He started skipping family dinner, saying he had to study. His computer and internet had parental controls installed, but he overrode them.

They took him to a therapist when he was in high school and quit giving him cash after he told them that he had stolen from them and used it on videogames. He found other ways to get money, selling birthday or holiday gifts online to get gaming gift cards. If a textbook cost $50, he would tell his parents it cost $100 and use the difference to play games. At one point, he says he cashed his savings and sold stocks that his parents purchased for him.

“I would lie about how much I spent, mostly because of the shame around it,” says Mr. Jones.

Mr. Jones spent more than a year at reSTART, returned to college and is working in a research lab. He uses a flip phone, rather than a smartphone where videogames are readily accessible, and continues to see a therapist.

He has learned a lot, he says, and is concerned that kids and parents don’t understand how easily gambling can be done on mobile videogames, or how damaging it can be.

“You don’t have to go to a casino to lose a lot of money,” he says.

Write to Clare Ansberry at clare.ansberry@wsj.com


LINK: https://www.wsj.com/articles/p...00?mod=hp_lead_pos11

No surprise, given how the online casinos run multiple TV ads 24/7 claiming to match your first deposit.

Gambling ads are pervasive on radio stations it seems. Every other ad around here is for sports betting on Draftkings and they even offer the first $200 in bets for free. The funniest part is within the ad where they warn about gambling addiction (reminiscent of cigarette commercials and health effects).

A more subtle and insidious form of taking money from dummies is “in app purchases” in various games such as Pokerist. These people spend obscene amounts of money to win…video poker. There’s no cash out to recover money. You have virtual money you can never touch. It’s insanity.

I beat this do death, but I'll say it again. The two greatest "social" changes in recent years have been legalized sports gambling and legalized weed. Not changed because society changed it's opinion on them to any great degree. Changed because politicians thought they could make a lot of money off it. And THAT should piss you off, no matter which side of those issues you're on.

Used to be illegal for a reason.

In the last five years especially, it seems almost every videogame has what are called "microtransactions" and a lot of them have the gambling element to it. Let's say you buy a videogame. Today, it's called the "base game" because there will be additional content added eventually. You can opt to pay extra at any time to buy new items or equipment, usually of a limited time nature to help incite the urge to buy, because after all, running around in an online lobby with that item that was only available for a month six years ago shows you've been playing the game religiously forever.

Some games, either instead of or in addition to this, allow you to buy "loot crates," and this is where the gambling aspect comes into play. You buy a loot crate and you have a chance at either one, or a number of items, generally from a tier, which is also reflected in the level and cost of the crate. Say you've got three tiers of crates- "Uncommon," "Rare," and "Legendary." The "Uncommon" crate will offer you a chance at three items, and mostly they'll be a lower tier of item with a 1% chance at an item from the "Legendary" tier list. "Rare," same thing, but a 10-20% chance. The top tier crate will give you a guaranteed "Legendary" item with a percent chance at a second and a guarantee of no "Uncommon" tier items.

There's other ways to exploit addicts in this way. Multiple times a year, run gaming events where you offer guaranteed exclusive items that people have to "grind" for (put in long hours with many attempts at a low percentage drop rate), and you have a regular playerbase of addicts. In addition to in-game currency that allows players to pay real money to have a wallet full of "platinum" or whatever you want to call it that they can spend on items, allow players to trade amongst themselves, so items that were hard to obtain or only came out once or haven't been available in years, some players can just buy off others with in-game currency. This helps guarantee that you will have a solid number of players "grinding" hard or limited time events for exclusive items because whatever they get beyond what they want to keep for themselves, they can turn around and charge stupid amounts of in-game currency for. There also exists a "black market" where players can turn around and sell their accounts or in-game currency for cryptocurrency or real money to players wishing to skip all of that nonsense. It's something game developers try real hard to tamp down on, because that's real money going into the pockets of someone who doesn't work on the game. If they detect that an account has traded hands, they ban it and all those hours of in-game progress and items are lost - the house never loses.

It goes beyond that, even, but this is a quick glimpse into it from someone who's been playing videogames for about thirty years. Online poker and outright betting is more overt, but I believe this to be the more insidious application of it.

It truly is a modern casino, and an outright exploitation of addiction. I've paid money into some of this stuff, but with all the other things I have going on, I'm trying to make sure gambling doesn't become another addiction. Being extremely cheap and wanting to spend the money on guns and ammo instead also helps.

quote:

Originally posted by sse:
Used to be illegal for a reason.

If only if we could have more laws to control our lives.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by sse:
Used to be illegal for a reason.

If only if we could have more laws to control our lives.

I hear ya, shame this new freedom is not making the world a better place.

quote:

Originally posted by sse:
Used to be illegal for a reason.

And people still did it.
And society spent a lot of time and effort trying to snuff it out, unsuccessfully, instead of dealing with more important things.

I bet $20 bucks that it is just a fad! (Oops!)

quote:

Originally posted by sse:
Used to be illegal for a reason.

Because the gov wasn't getting their cut.


They don't like competition.
They don't like people making money without them.

Once they started allowing the injuns to open casinos, the floodgates were opened...

quote:

Originally posted by sse:
Once they started allowing the injuns to open casinos, the floodgates were opened...

Honest…?

I don’t think it’s the Indian casinos; they wish it was them.

It’s more like people having cellphones and the commercials pushing gambling apps.

I don’t have enough money to start a gambling addiction or any addiction for that matter.

I have a cousin. The first times she went to casinos in Nevada, it was a disaster for her if she lost $20. Over the years, her finances improved through hard work. Next thing I know, casinos were offering her and her husband plane rides, free hotel suites, dinners, and shows. The minimum she played was $100 minimums in the 1990s to not be around the “unwashed masses.”

Then she started going to the casinos near her in CA after work, playing all night, and having her husband bring her a change of clothes in the morning.

That’s a lot of energy and money.

Started all the online betting during the pandemic stay at home order in Michigan.

What a coincidence! The state needed its cut.

Never in my wildest dreams did I believe the NFL and NBA would be Official Sports Betting Partners with DraftKings and FanDuel. I'm sure this has had a huge impact on young people.

Take male infants and feed them a constant diet of anti-patriarchy critical race-based identitarian equity theory, docility, physical and psychological meekness, and purposelessness, washed down by endless seratonin-addicting video games and what do you expect when those directionless, irresponsible males discovery games having real consequences (e.g., loss of money, hanging with disreputable people)?

Some become adrenaline/dopamine/serotonin junkies who do free diving, free solo climbing, or proximity wing suit flying.

Other build and race boats and cars.

Some rob banks, smuggle drugs, or commit other breaches of the law.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
Take male infants and feed them a constant diet of anti-patriarchy critical race-based identitarian equity theory, docility, physical and psychological meekness, and purposelessness, washed down by endless seratonin-addicting video games and what do you expect when those directionless, irresponsible males discovery games having real consequences (e.g., loss of money, hanging with disreputable people)?

Some become adrenaline/dopamine/serotonin junkies who do free diving, free solo climbing, or proximity wing suit flying.

Other build and race boats and cars.

Some rob banks, smuggle drugs, or commit other breaches of the law.

Yup, whatever it takes to quell all that rampant, male toxicity.

That same male toxicity that makes us reckless and risk-taking is thought of as being an evolutionary trait that benefited the “clan” if you will in more primitive times. Unfortunately, many choose to direct those traits towards activities that carry a different kind of risk such as gambling, drug use, or physically dangerous pastimes.