Sports betting has been live for just over four weeks in Kentucky. But in this short time frame, one therapist reports an increase in folks seeking help for gambling addiction.
But Kentucky is not a newcomer to gambling and its downsides. Lest anyone forget, Kentucky is the horse racing capital of the country, and home to the Kentucky Derby.
Wagering has brought in tens of millions, a portion of which goes to the state. Among the places it goes is to reduce the deficit in the public pension fund. And a small portion winds up in the problem gaming fund. The Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling (KCPG) entered the world 27 years ago to support prevention activities, awareness and education for those dealing with gambling disorders throughout the state.
“We’ve had to adjust with technology as technology has increased, and now gambling is no longer going to an arena or an event or a casino. You can gamble from the comfort of your home in your pajamas 24/7, every day of the year,” Dr. RonSonlyn Clark, KCPG president, told Spectrum News. “Gambling exists. We just are here to treat the individual that has a problem with gambling, and we want to identify them and provide them quality resources for treatment activities.”
Whether blackjack on the cell phone or horse racing at Churchill Downs, problem gamblers chase the win, confident in their luck or their skill. “If I flip a coin ten times, and nine times I hit tails, it’s gotta hit heads next time” they think,” Clark told Spectrum. “No, it’s still 50-50 next time. Magical thinking is: it’s bound to, I’m lucky. They don’t build casinos and arenas on people winning all the time. They can build those places on people investing in them by their losses.”
The state has few professionals like Clark working in this field. Clark works on a roster of six to eight patients around the Commonwealth.
“We’re beginning to see more calls to the 1-800 gambler hotline,” he told Spectrum. “I have talked with some of the call takers at that help line. And they said the day that the apps went live, they had an increase in calls.”
Sports wagering should be entertaining, even if it ends up with more constraints to alleviate problem gaming, Clark said.
But it can get out of control.
“I’ve had people that can gamble $1,000-$2,000 a day. Most people can’t do that. Most people need to be limited to less than $100 a day, probably. Or less than $50 for many people,” Clark told Spectrum. “I had one guy one time who placed a bet on every down, in every game on Sunday afternoon.”
And in case you were unaware, problem gambling has the highest rate of suicide, with one in five people expected to at least attempt suicide. She blames the rise in financial issues, secrecy, shame and guilt.
“There’s certainly an addictive quality that goes along with gambling, as in substance use, alcohol use and many other kinds of behavioral addictions. Some of this has a genetic component. Some of it is the lifestyle. Some of it is what you’re exposed to. Some of it may be just a new coping skill that people have learned to help them escape from day-to-day problems,” Clark said.
“Those individuals are sometimes the ones that we really need to get into treatment, because we need to look at those co-occurring disorders. Is there anxiety, underlying depression that needs to be treated? Where the person would be going and zoning out on a device.”
While gambling addiction resembles substance abuse, there are differences.
“In substance abuse, we can take somebody in, and we can give them a urine drug screen, and we can tell that they’ve been using methamphetamine or opiates or cocaine. There’s no screen like that to use to tell somebody’s been playing poker or on a sports app, or been to the casino,” she told Spectrum. “This is the one area of behavioral addictions that we see that, even at your lowest, you can still have some success. You’re gonna lose, lose, lose. But then you have a day you win, where if you use a substance, it’s a bad day, bad day, bad day.”
Money allocated for the problem gaming fund goes to awareness and prevention developing workforce needs, she said.
Clark envisions a future where the state allocates as much as $3 million a year for a rehab center. The KCPG hopes they can promote a campaign in January to train gambling counselors.
