Pennsylvania pivot to online gambling amid bleak pandemic raises addiction concerns – Herald-Mail Media

LEBANON, Pa. As the coronavirus pandemic kept Pennsylvanians home in 2021, online gambling revenues surged. So did requests for help from people struggling with addiction.

Online gambling was legalized in the state in 2017. It has provided a lifeline for the gambling industry in a year when revenue from many traditional casinos fell as a result of the virus. But while giving homebound players a way to stay in the game and attracting new users, online gambling has also increased the opportunity for dangerous habits to develop.

Ercole said that although 2019 and 2020 saw roughly the same number of phone calls, there were month-to-month differences. There was a major decline during the early part of the pandemic and a spike later on. The focus of the calls also pivoted more toward online gambling.

Additionally, there was an increase in people contacting the council using other methods, including its available chat or text features.

Ease of access

Its obviously increasingly easy for people to access this new type of activity, Ercole said. When everything stops, when youre out of work, when your businesses close temporarily, when theres isolation, when youre bored, when youre stressed, when youre anxious, it certainly serves as a very easy-to-access coping tool for a lot of people.

With online gambling, players can be in their bed or at work, push a button, and play a slot machine. On my phone, I can make a sandwich and continue gambling, said Kenneth J. Sutton, a Harrisburg-based licensed professional counselor. He deals with gambling problems, among other addiction issues, and specialties including anger management and depression.

If youre in a casino, youre either handing them cash or youre putting chips in something physical you can see, Mountz warned, whereas with online gambling and some online games with loot box mechanics, oftentimes, because its all clicks, it doesnt seem like real money, so it tends to add up over time.

The act of gambling feels more normal when virtual because many peoples lives are already taking place online or over the phone to a large extent, he said.

For the companies involved, online gambling has been a bonanza. Even as traditional brick-and-mortar casino revenues in the state fell as a result of closures, internet gaming revenue leapt from $33.6 million in 2019 to $565.8 million in 2020.

As Penn Nationals stock was added to the S&P 500 in March, it performed well, with investors highlighting the potential in online gambling as part of its appeal, according to CNBC.

Morris pointed to the Barstool Sportsbook platforms resources for people who want to ensure they play responsibly. These include time limits, bet limits, deposit limits and self-exclusion, among other options.

Barstool employees receive tailored responsible gaming training, and responsible gaming disclaimers are featured on the app and on our advertisements, as required by our gaming regulators, he added. Barstool has created a public-service announcement about betting responsibly that is featured around its gaming content, above and beyond any requirement to do so.

Online gambling has led to a shift in not just where people are gambling, but who is doing it.

When we first got i-gaming legalized in Pennsylvania ... we tended to see a slightly younger participation, Ercole said, with many more gamblers aged 21 to 35 compared with the participants at brick-and-mortar establishments, who have been typically 45 and older. But during the pandemic, with casinos closed, many who had regularly gone to those moved online also.

Ercole said that many of these people will return to casinos, but the online option will remain more attractive for many as well.

Serious addiction

While problem gambling is sometimes discounted compared with other addictions such as drugs, it can be equally problematic long-term. Smith likened it to alcohol, which can eventually lead to financial and family-related problems.

Ercole said problem gambling is complex and not a one-size-fits-all issue. Often people turn to the thrill of gambling because of a variety of factors unrelated to money, such as self-value, ego, a desire to escape a daily routine, depression or stress.

Theres plenty of cases where individuals have an endless supply of money, and financial difficulty has nothing to do with what problems theyre facing. There could be relationship issues, they could be facing legal consequences, there could be job or career situations, he said. But to some, the feeling of escaping reality is so intoxicating they say the money spent is worth it.

Mountz said key signs that someone is developing a gambling problem include talking only about wins and belief in the classic gamblers fallacy the illusion that one is in control of the situation.

Its a combination of money and also the same rush a person gets when theyre using (drugs), Sutton said. Its a euphoric feeling. ... They get caught in this spiders web, they think they actually have control.

Going forward

Smiths department, working with partners, has significantly increased its outreach in recent years, streamlining a number of gambling-related hotlines into one, ramping up awareness campaigns during the pandemic and increasing the number of help providers.

It may be years down the road until we really see the full impact of the pandemics effects on addiction, Smith added. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

In all areas of health and human services, theres going to be a vast need for services, she said, including for obesity and smoking. We wont know the true impact until it starts to hit us.

Sutton said the pandemic has made it more difficult for some people to work with therapists because they couldnt talk in person.

Shame can also be a barrier to dealing with gambling issues, and both Ercole and Smith stressed there is no need for shame or to stigmatize the problem.

Mountz listed a number of measures people can take to keep gambling recreational, including setting a limit on how much one can afford to lose, not gambling on credit, setting a time limit and taking a break.

Ercole also mentioned Gamban, a program that blocks access to online gambling across devices.

Hal Conte is a quality of life and Central Pennsylvania issues reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. You can find him on Twitter at @conte_hal.

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Pennsylvania pivot to online gambling amid bleak pandemic raises addiction concerns - Herald-Mail Media