From a non-work device, contact our reporter at or via Signal at 31 for extra security. These arguments, as well as ones against prohibitionary schemes generally, are difficult to refute in theory in practice, it’s not yet clear whether state agencies are taking their oversight commitments as seriously as they should.ĭo you have insight into the online gambling industry? How has it affected your life? We want to hear from you. Politicians say the legalization of gambling provides states with much-needed additional revenue and allows the government to more adequately oversee gambling and responsibly help those who develop issues. Roughly the same number have legalized online sports betting and more people are pushing for legal online casinos as well. Gambling advertisements litter the country, and more than 20 states now allow casinos, compared to just nine in 2001. this century, gambling has become more wholly legitimized, released from the confines of Atlantic City and Las Vegas and into the broader culture.

Still, Jason considers himself “a slightly better case than average.” Since he joined Gamblers Anonymous, he’s heard stories of people losing homes and living out of their car. He would ultimately blow through “a couple hundred thousand dollars” before admitting he had become a problem gambler in May. “I felt like I had to be gambling at all times,” he said.

It felt less “seedy,” he said, even if he would gamble until three in the morning while his kids slept “and then wake up and do it again.” By this year, Jason didn’t go a day without gambling. Regardless of the legality, the growing prevalence of gambling in society helped him legitimize his habit to himself. “But there was never any red tape to get past in order to play those games,” he said. Unlike sports betting, online casino gambling remained illegal in Illinois, and Jason wasn’t sure if the online games he was playing were legal or not. “Being able to just sit in bed and go on my phone and gamble made it almost impossible to stop.” But, he added, “I didn’t have to explain where I was or anything like that. “I could do everything you could do at a casino on my phone,” he said. By comparison, his phone allowed him to be “100 percent plugged in” from anywhere, without people asking questions. The casinos, he came to believe, were less efficient-“too much non-gambling time,” he said-and led to questions about where he had been.

Soon enough, however, he preferred online gambling.

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