With few regulations in place, gambling companies are going all-in to attract as many customers as possible – with younger, sports-obsessed and smartphone-savvy Americans particularly vulnerable.
Fans celebrate at the William Hill Sports Book in Atlantic City, N.J.
Lisa Lake/Getty Images for William Hill US
Researchers who analyzed every sports bet placed online since 2018 found that young adults are the fastest-growing group of bettors, with more than 70% of them placing in-game bets.
Only about 10% of people with a gambling problem ever seek treatment.
Sean Gladwell/Moment via Getty Images
Sports wagering apps bring in-play betting right to the palm of your hand. Easy, ever-present access can lead to excitement and fun – or problem gambling.
The country’s history of state-sanctioned gambling goes back to the early 19th century.
William West/AFP via Getty Images
Any increase in people seeking help for gambling disorders could overwhelm the nation’s treatment centers, which already find themselves overextended and underfunded.
People line up to place bets in the sports book at the South Point hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nev.
AP Photo/John Locher
With leagues lobbying for their share, a thriving illegal market that needs to be stifled, and bettors chomping at the bit, the headaches are just beginning.
DraftKings will sponsor professional poker players like Ken Weimer – indicative, perhaps, of the demographic they’re courting.
World Poker Tour/flickr
Editor’s note: There were 146 state-wide ballot measures up for consideration by voters in this week’s midterm elections, covering all manner of controversial issues – from abortion and guns to minimum…
Slot machines are designed to make losses seem like wins.
REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
A 2011 Massachusetts law allows for the expansion of gambling, including slot machines. That law is now on the November 2014 election ballot for potential repeal. This is a real opportunity for voters…
Your odds of winning are greatly improved if you own a casino.
Gambling is good business, or at least a profitable one. According to the American Gaming Association, in 2012 the 464 commercial casinos in the US served 76.1 million patrons and grossed $US37.34 billion…
One way to manage problem gambling would be to limit the supply of poker machines.
EPA
Casino gaming is on the rise across much of the developed world, with governments increasingly unable to resist the allure of windfall taxes and a hefty influx of cash for the local economy. Massachusetts…
Casinos like this one in Maryland bring benefits as well as costs. The challenge is working out which is greater.
www.marylandlivecasino.com
During the past two decades, the US casino industry has expanded dramatically. According to the American Gaming Association, there are now nearly 1,000 commercial and tribal casinos in the country. Plans…
An artist’s rendering of Wynn’s proposed $1.6 billion casino on the Mystic River, Everett.
The [upcoming vote](http://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Casino_Repeal_Initiative,Question_3(2014) on whether to scrap plans to allow casino resorts in Massachusetts fits into a broader pattern of individuals…
Check for that little white box before you step up to the table …
Antoine Taveneaux
My brief experience in a casino was pretty typical, I’d say. Flashing lights. The faint smell of booze. Not much chatter among patrons. The sounds of dice rolling, machines buzzing, and coins clanking…