Sports Betting: how to Know if you’ve Crossed The Line

You don’t need to be a passionate sports fan or a fanatic bettor to know that sports wagering is booming.

Super Bowl LIX, or “Super Bowl 59” for those people who don’t speak Latin, is expected to shatter the previous record for money wagered on a single live sporting event in the United States: in 2015’s Super Bowl. The video game drove $1.3 billion in U.S.-based betting alone, as 68 million Americans took a gamble on the Taylor Swift-ified spectacle that ended in success for Chiefs Kingdom. This year’s tilt – a rematch of the 2023 Super Bowl in between Kansas City and the Philadelphia Eagles – is predicted to draw more than $1.5 billion in legal wagers across the nation.

If you or someone you appreciate is engaging in problematic gambling, you can get help by calling the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER, or visiting problemgamblingcoalitioncolorado.org (for resources in Colorado) or gamblersanonymous.org (for support throughout the U.S. and worldwide).

The proliferation and popularity of mobile sports betting applications (apps) has fueled a sports-betting surge. Apps have actually developed tremendously greater access to sports betting for everyone from casual gamblers to compulsive gamblers, who can put bets anywhere, anytime, with simply a click their mobile devices.

Upping the ante is the seamless integration of mobile wagering with significant sports leagues and media protection, which bombards audiences with updates on ever-shifting chances and encouragement to “get in on the action,” blurring the line between the game and gaming.

Healthy Gambling Guidelines

– Set limitations and stay with them.

– Never gamble more than you can pay for to lose.

– Don’t chase your losses.

– Seek assistance if you need it. 1-800-GAMBLER

At the same time, mobile sports betting menus – the types of wagers offered to gamblers – have expanded significantly. Traditional sports bets (positioned before the start of a game, and typically connected to the result of the event) are served up together with “live betting” (also known as “in-game” or “in-play” wagering), in which odds and wagering options unfold during play, and “microbetting,” a more granular, instant-gratification type of gambling that focuses on particular events or moments in a game, like the result of the next play, point or possession.

This trifecta of increased access, relentless opportunities to go after one’s losses (or profits) and prevalent marketing have drawn millions of Americans to online sports betting, increasing the chances that more people will establish unhealthy relationships with gaming.

With a lot on the line, we turned to Emily Hemendinger, MPH, LCSW, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, who concentrates on treating clients with obsessive-compulsive qualities and has a background in treating dependencies. In the following Q&A, Hemendinger offers insight into the source and indications of issue gaming (likewise understood as compulsive betting or gambling dependency), and how to assist yourself or someone who is fighting with a gambling condition.