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This in-depth package was curated and edited by Audrey Park. 

While experts advise against gambling, some indulge in it anyway

Editor’s note: Students spoke to the Midway on the condition of anonymity due to age restrictions for the activities mentioned. Both students are at U-High.

A record 68 million Americans placed bets on March Madness last year, and a total of $23 billion was spent on bets on this year’s Super Bowl. With numbers only expected to rise, gambling now takes place not just in casinos and gas station video poker terminals but on computers and phones — even within high schools. As the NCAA tournament continues, some students could be seen secretly watching games on their phones during class and tracking their bracket in hopes they don’t lose the money they’ve bet.

While gambling may seem like simply an opportunity to have fun with friends and make mundane events more interesting, experts say placing bets presents both legal and emotional consequences when taken too far. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, 60-80% of high school students have gambled in the past year, and 14-19% are showing signs of gambling addictions. 

Shane Kraus, a clinical psychologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who has been studying gambling and addiction for about 10 years, said he discourages gambling while underage, as it may lead to future addiction. In Illinois, a person must be at least 21 to legally participate in sports betting.

“What is clear is that the younger someone starts gambling, the greater the risk factor to develop a problem when they’re an adult,” Dr. Kraus said. “That’s the same thing is if you vape when you’re younger, you’re more at risk for smoking. You smoke cannabis younger, you’re more likely to develop alcoholism. They’re all similar trajectories. The younger you start, the greater risk you’re going to have a problem when you’re an adult.”

Despite the many risks of gambling, students seem to understand them. Student A said he started placing bets to make events he found boring more interesting.

“I think it’s just a way to make things more fun, and things that usually wouldn’t be very interesting or enjoyable become very enjoyable,” Student A said. “It’s the same thing as gambling in sports. Like, I play golf, and I’ll probably end up gambling with people. Any number of things you can gamble with people. It’s fun, within reason it’s fun.”

Since he started gambling, Student A said he’s bet $3,000-$4,000. 

Sports betting websites provide U-High students with an easy way to gamble despite being underage. Although many websites have age restrictions, Student A said they’re easy to bypass. 

“Theoretically, high schoolers aren’t allowed to gamble, but many kids use their parents’ accounts,” Student A said.

Student B also enjoys placing bets often, especially during March Madness. He said he understands the risks of gambling, which is why he sets guidelines for himself and looks for ways to increase his odds. According to Student B, he has now profited a couple of thousand dollars.

“You just have to set your limit and understand how much money you’re willing to lose and make sure you’re OK with losing that amount of money because gambling is gambling,” Student B said. “I bet mainly using stats and, like, other resources that I’ve found online and found a group of people on social media that you trust to follow. Really it’s just setting your limit and knowing that that’s a limit you’re OK losing.”

While Dr. Kraus said gambling habits among high school students have not yet been fully researched, he believes there are more underage people gambling due to a lack of federal regulation and widespread advertisements for sports betting websites. 

“There’s so much advertisement — it’s everywhere,” Dr. Kraus said. “It’s kind of bananas. There’s advertisements in the stadiums, online. During NFL games, 20% of all ads for sports betting are during the time of the game. People and youth who love sports, whether they’re 10 or 50, 100, if they’re watching TV, they’re seeing ads. If they’re at the stadium, they’re seeing ads. No matter where you are, you’re seeing a lot of ads, and I think those ads influence a lot of people.”

Dr. Kraus said he’s seen a large increase in the number of people seeking help for gambling addictions in the past few years, especially due to sports betting.

“I encourage people not to do it until they’re older because it’s a risky habit to make,” Dr. Kraus said. “For those who can gamble, I always encourage them to set limits, never spend more money than you have. But for someone in high school, honestly, if they’re betting they’re probably doing it on illegal sites which has legal consequences. Right now it’s unregulated a lot online, and I think that’s going to change because there’s a lot of concerns. People are downloading apps and doing stuff and they don’t realize that’s real money.”

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Former gambler lost relationships, risked finances

Jamie Salsburg used to spend his free time in high school and college gambling with his friends. What started as gambling a quarter at his neighborhood golf course turned into a serious seven year addiction to online and home poker games, and slot machines. But after realizing the impact his addiction was inflicting on his personal life, he decided to seek help. He hasn’t gambled since July 15, 2010. Mr. Salsburg, now 42, spreads awareness about his experience with gambling through a blog and podcast called “After Gambling.” 

Mr. Salsburg’s responses were lightly edited for length, clarity and style.

What attracted you about gambling?

When I was in college is when the World Series of Poker became really popular. Texas Hold ’em also was gaining popularity, and eventually me and all of my friends were playing. It became something to do on campus and part of our hang out. It became a habitual activity, and I definitely thought I was better than I actually was. I made a little money from it and sometimes lost, but again, I overestimated my abilities and became too confident. Over time and eventually, I began losing a lot more. 

Gambling is such a unique addiction because it makes sense in your mind, that you have to gamble more in order to get out of the consequences of gambling. If you lose money, your mind convinces itself that the best way to get out of it is to gamble more. I didn’t want to accept that gambling was unhealthy. 

How did gambling impact your personal life?

The hardest thing is that it caused me to live a double life. I would be hanging out with my friends, and everything would be great. I’d sometimes make money off of poker and would be very happy and excited. But all the while, internally, I knew how bad things were. I got really depressed and frustrated with myself. But eventually, I stopped hanging out with my friends and doing things that I was interested in. Maybe you don’t have the money. Or, you want to spend that time gambling.

What was the pivotal moment that led you to recovery?

After six or seven years and being in the same situation multiple times where I would try to overcome my addiction but it would always relapse and end up back to gambling, when I was 28, I actually got caught. For nine months, I didn’t gamble, but one time on a business trip, the opportunity to gamble arose. I was engaged to my now wife. My phone accidentally dialed out at the poker table, and she was on the other end. I came clean to her and that’s when I started adopting a different lifestyle. She thought I quit, and when it happened, I didn’t know what she had heard. And at that point, we were a few months before our wedding, so I had wanted to quit. So, I was able to admit that I needed to adopt different strategies to fully commit. I realized that yes, I have a problem, but many other people do too, and it’s possible to recover from my situation. At that point, I really evaluated my situation and made efforts to fix it. 

What was the recovery process like?

I was very much the person who wanted all the things in life: cars and all those things. But, I was lazy and didn’t want to work for it. I was trying to make shortcuts in life and it didn’t work. So, it was about addressing these underlying issues and finding a genuine hobby and something that got me wanting to work. It was definitely difficult, but it was hopeful seeing other people who had gambled before to show me that things are going to work out.

What impact do you hope to create with your blog and podcast?

I thought a podcast was the best way to spread my message. Maybe someone struggling like me could listen to it and not have to talk to someone else and feel ashamed. It delivers some of the same messages I would have wanted to hear. It’s all the things I wish I knew. A lot of times people don’t realize how many others are struggling from the same problem. The moment you hear other people is the moment you realize that breaking through the addiction is possible. Just throw in some earbuds.

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Gambling across the United States has become controversial due to the blurry line between legal and illegal gambling. The legality of gambling depends on the type of gambling and the state in which it takes place. Here are a some facts about gambling rules and government action that make the distinction clearer:

• National and state law: Gambling is legal under federal law, but individual states are permitted to prohibit all gambling, or certain types, within their own border. Only two states, Hawaii and Utah, have completely banned all forms of gambling. The remaining states have legalized some gambling while still prohibiting others. 
• Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2018): This U.S. Supreme Court case was a turning point in gambling law. The court ruled in favor of New Jersey’s challenge to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, declaring it unconstitutional under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This ruling pushed individual states to legalize sports betting, quickly expanding the sports betting industry. 
• Sports betting: Since Murphy v. NCAA, 38 states and the District of Columbia have permitted a form of sports betting, with 29 of them permitting online betting. In Illinois, in-person sports betting has been legal for anyone 21 or older since 2019 and online sports betting since 2020.  
• Illinois Gambling Act (1990): This state law permits and regulates different forms of gambling in Illinois. It permits riverboat, casino and gaming gambling as long as they are carried out according to the specifics stated in the act. Additionally, it sets tax rates to generate revenue from gambling for the state and establishes punishments for violating the act.
• Online gambling: While traditional gambling started hundreds of years ago, online gambling has become especially popular given its accessibility. It is defined as any type of gambling that involves the internet, but the most popular are virtual sports, poker and casino betting. In October 1994, the Liechtenstein International Lottery became the first online gambling site opened to the public. Despite it being mainly illegal worldwide, about half of U.S. states have legalized or regulated online gambling since 2022.

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Who: Lotteries, the most popular form of gambling, are often administered by state or federal governments. State lottery participants comprise nearly half of Americans. Surveys show that people in lower socioeconomic groups participate in them the most.

What: The first lottery was created in 1994 by the National Lottery in the United Kingdom, which created thousands of millionaires. According to the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards,  around nearly one-third of lottery winners go broke within three to five years.

Where: While lottery tickets can be commonly found in grocery stores and gas stations, Alabama, Alaska, Nevada, Utah and Hawaii do not have state lotteries. Pennsylvania has had the most Powerball jackpot winners, and New York is home to the most Mega Million jackpots.

Programs provide guidance, hope to student gamblers

As gambling addiction has become a widespread issue, some colleges have started programs to raise general awareness about gambling addiction and help addicts in their community by providing students with easily available resources if they decide to seek help.

College students who gamble most commonly participate in sports betting, especially during the NCAA basketball tournament. A 2023 survey by the NCAA found that about 60% of American college students have bet on sports, and with gambling comes addiction. 

The Tennessee Institute for Gambling Education & Research at the University of Memphis is one program which strives to help gambling addicts. Rory A. Pfund is the program’s research director, and he researches personal psychological treatments for gambling and substance use disorders. 

“Our mission right now, which is somewhat evolving over the years, is to create an accessible and engaging evidence-based system of care throughout the entire state of Tennessee,” Dr. Pfund said in an interview with the Midway. 

Dr. Pfund said he understands the importance of informing and changing people’s perspective of gambling.

“We help them change their ideas about what gambling is, as well as help them reconnect or create new ways of living their lives,” Dr. Pfund said. “We take a values-based approach, where we help people think about what’s important in their life.”

After doing so, he said the program hopes that people who come to them in need of help will reach a point where visits are not necessary.

“Part of our philosophy here is that we believe each person is capable of making changes in their lives,” Dr. Pfund said. “Our goal is to literally phase ourselves out, so that they wouldn’t need to come see us anymore.”

Dr. Pfund said another potential problem with gambling in college is that students may be gambling with their college tuition money. 

“A lot of people are worried that students are spending money that they would otherwise spend on school to gamble and then potentially drop out of college,” Dr. Pfund said. “We just don’t know the full extent of the problem yet.”

He said the program’s evidence-based system of care has seen many positive results.

“What we generally see is that people who come to our program, who engage fully with the content and complete it, are going to see about a 70% reduction in how often they gamble,” Dr. Pfund said, “so the number of days, as well as the amount of spending they have on gambling.”

 However, Dr. Pfund wishes the program could be even more impactful. While clinics like the University of Memphis Gambling Institute help gambling addicts, he said the country could be doing much more.  

“While I think we do a good job for those people we do reach, I think we have a lot of work to do — to reach the broader audience of people,” Dr. Pfund said. “And that’s true of all clinics across the world, not just ours.”

Additionally, he said many who gamble solely notice the positive rather than the negative outcomes. 

“There are a lot of real stories we see in our clinic that show the other side of gambling,” Dr. Pfund said, “and I think there’s not been enough attention on those problems and the reality of those problems across the U.S.”

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• The National Council on Problem Gambling has estimated that the national risk for gambling addiction increased by almost a third between 2018 and 2021.
  — Vice
• The National Council on Problem Gambling found that 60-80% of high schoolers have
  gambled in the past year, and 14-19% fit the criteria of having a gambling problem.
  — Vice
• Between 0.77-57.5% of adolescents show some signs of problematic online gambling
  depending on the instruments used, the study samples and the timeframe analyzed.
  — NIH
• In 2022, U.S. gamblers lost $250 billion, or $764 per capita. $250 billion was the total revenue of the American gambling industry in 2023, a $200 billion increase from the following year.
  — QuitGamble.com
• In the United States, 1.2-6.2 are addicted to gambling, meaning 20 million Americans have
  gambling problems or are at risk.
  — QuitGamble.com