guys and gals, we're just getting started

Did you know, you are thirty percent more likely to have a gambling addiction today than back in 2020. It was not until 2018, when the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), or the Bradley Act was overturned. This legalized sports betting throughout the United States, in 2019, many states started legalizing online gaming. By 2021, nearly half the United States had legalized sports gambling and in person gambling at sportsbooks. As of today, August 24th, nearly eighty percent of the United States now has legalized sports gambling (insert exploding head emoji). Gambling addiction is at an all-time high. It is projected that 1-2 percent of the US population (~2 to 4 million adults) has a gambling addiction or will in their lifetime. Its even getting more younger now as some estimated 750K kids ages 14-21 have gambling problems as well. (https://www.addictions.com/gambling/5-alarming-gambling-addiction-statistics/#:~:text=Over%2080%20percent%20of%20American,21%20have%20a%20gambling%20addiction) Since most are underdiagnosed or do not admit they have an issue, could very much well be more than that. College aged kids are the most reported to have a gambling addiction with upwards of 75 percent of individuals between the ages of 20-30 

According to a recent study, roughly 1 in 4 Americans gamble on a daily basis. (https://www.sportsbettingreport.com/1-in-4-american-sports-bettors-gamble-daily/).  A fair majority of those problem gamblers bet more than half of their monthly take home pay. About 70 percent of gamblers (sports bettors) like it because it’s a fun hobby. While there are safe ways to gamble, we tend to not see it that way. The way our brain works while active in addiction, we crave more. The same way a drug addict reacts when they are using.  We need more to trick our brains into raising the levels of dopamine by way of trying to win more money. The more concerning issue is that 60 percent of them considered gambling as a source of extra income, which is not the right way to look at it especially being a game of chance. 

Gambling and specifically online gambling are more easily accessible today than it was even just five years ago. Once the PASPA was overturned, more and more online casinos, sportsbooks and online daily fantasy apps became very popular and started becoming used daily with the likes of Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). For most of us problem sports gamblers, the sportsbooks were one of the first apps we looked at upon rising from our slumber. We would check the apps if our bets we placed in international sport leagues cashed. Sometimes that determined how our morning would go. Would we have a great morning or crappy? Depends, did the over 7.5 runs scored in the Hiroshima Toyo Carp/ Hokkaido Nippon- Ham Fighters game at 4:30am hit? If yes, great fucking start to the morning as we had money for later. No? WELL, WERE GOING TO HAVE A SHITTY MORNING. (Insert "sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit" meme). You know you're in deep when you bet on some Nippon Professional Baseball (Japan baseball). We would check it periodically during the day, usually some sort of soccer game going on in Europe. If it was a Tuesday or Wednesday…sometimes a Monday, or Friday, there would be Premier League Soccer on midday. "Let’s throw some money on o2.5 goals in Arsenal vs Tottenham" we say, rationalizing both teams could score…only to lose by one goal since it ended in some 1-1 fucking tie. Then, It would be the last apps we looked at during the night before heading off to bed. Checking for more action so we can try to win back that money we lost during the morning and early afternoon. If this is/ was you, please call/text 1-800-GAMBLER now. It is only going to get worse from here.  

  

Please enjoy this photo of Zinnia. I love this photo (and love and miss her greatly) because of what the amazon box says “Future you says thanks” If we do not place a bet today, go to the casino, avoid buying scratch off tickets or buying lottery tickets, we are one day from recovering from our addictions and can try looking to a better future for ourselves, family, friends and others who are a part of our long recovery journey. 

 IT GETS BETTER. One day at a time.

My advice for those who want to change: 

• Delete the sportsbook apps.
• Forever, do not re-download
• Self-exclude yourself. 
• Asking a gambling venue to exclude you from the venue or a gambling activity offered by the venue.
• Lifetime ban, if not the maximum years
• If you have a loved one, they will be affected by it in some way, come clean to them what you are doing. If it gets pushed back and not talked about, It could be worse in the future. 
• Gambling addiction is one of the most secretive addictions out there, stop hiding from your loved one and tell them EVERYTHING
• Attend a GA meeting (online or in person)
• https://gamblersanonymous.org/ga/
• Find a therapist that specializes in addiction. 
• Make better habits
• Hit the gym
• Watch what youre feeding your mind 
• Nutrition
• Social media
• Books 
• YT videos
• Read books
• Learn about the gambling addiction 

• When you learn enough and change your mindset, you will eventually understand why you started in the first place. There are often underlying issues that contribute to gambling addiction.

• If sports gambling is the main culprit, STOP WATCHING SPORTS 
• Watching sports for us compulsive sports bettors is the gateway drug.
• Delete all sports apps 
• Unfollow all sports teams and fan pages from social media 
• Give control of your finances to a trusted person 
• For gamblers, seeing money in a bank account could increase the risk of gambling, thinking we could turn that $100 in the account to $1k is not the right mindset to have.
• If you have a line of credit, cut up your credit cards, close the accounts.