US gambling addiction is ‘out of control’ as betting markets boom, policy expert warns
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/24/gambling-addiction-out-of-control-betting-marketsOpen linkView original on lemmy.nz384
Comments41https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/24/gambling-addiction-out-of-control-betting-marketsOpen linkView original on lemmy.nz
There are two reasons people pour their money into gambling:
And the transition from one to the other is pretty seamless.
There are other reasons as well, ie: people who live with ADHD which means they may suffer from lack of impulse control, etc.
That's usually also (gambling) addiction
If you know something is certainly going to happen, there is no gamble.
Same process. Difference is semantic.
thats why gamblers are called degenerates
Well stop playing gambling ads on tv every 4 seconds between drug ads. And stop allowing gambling companies to sponsor every single sporting event. Sports have just turned into an advertising agency for gambling companies.
I am so glad that I don't have cable or watch tv. I never see these. All my content is streamed.
I'm sure those ads are also appearing on the ad-supported tiers of streaming platforms, unfortunately.
Too bad
There are a handful of times per year where we are streaming a live channel or watching cable TV at somebody else's house because local_team being in the playoffs for in_season_sport.
It's horrifying. Downright dystopioan.
I only hear pharmaceutical ads at other people’s houses
This reads straight out of a dystopian novel
Our entire economic/investment/retirement system is founded on gambling on a manipulated stock market, it's all built on a ponzi scheme where 93% the entire market is owned by the wealthiest 10% of society, with 62% of the US buying into it.
Everything else is muggles wrangling and conniving for literal scraps. It's a top down scam.
Eat the fucking rich.
If you invest in bonds there is very little gambling.
Wanna bet?
Late stage capitalism runs on addiction.
"it's the end of the world as we know it it's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine"
Late stage capitalism CAUSES addiction. People who lose hope of ever achieving financial stability or success turn to get rich fast schemes or gambling. I can't really blame them.
Any mode of online gambling/betting needs to be banned, at least in the US. So many people, like my father, cannot help themselves when it comes to gambling. Keep the gambling in the goddamn casino’s, so people have to drive there to throw their money away. With the online stuff, it’s as simple as opening a website or app.
This is so fucking shameful.
I don't think it matters because america tends to drive people to bad habits because people aren't able to live their authentic selves by design.
Our freedoms here are psycholically marketed illusion. No one is able to be who they could have been, who they're supposed to be.
Yeah it's like having a tap in every home with running liquor that you can't disconnect.
Let's start with Roblox and almost all mobile "free time" games.
The US economy is a literal scam, the people are exploited beyond belief.
Y'all just gonna let that one slide?
People need to slow down and enjoy life.
By all means keep punching nazis and holding signs, but do go for a walk, read and enjoy the birds every now and then, money isn't literally everything.
Money solves money problems. Money is everything untill you have enough and after that having more of it makes hardly a difference. I can totally understand why a poor person wants to become rich. However, I don't quite understand why an already rich person wants to become even richer.
It's pathological
That term actually means something and this isn't it.
Seems like a perfect use of the term to me. Unless you believe it's some undefinable supernatural force. I think it's an addiction just like hoarding anything else.
Ok, how am I wrong?
Agreed! This is why I suggested birds and reading lol. Two things the man hasn't taken from us yet.
Who could have seen this coming?
America is out of control...
The
Americaworld is out of control, IFTFY.Literally everything in the US is either corruption or gambling (which is itself often a form of corruption). The stock market is explicitly both.
In Central Florida, the last Democratic stronghold in Florida, DeSatan has been removing duly elected politicians, and replacing them with his own hand-picked, unelected people. The media has not covered this political atrocity at all. It the biggest election fraud happening in the country, and it is literally unknown outside of Central Florida. Even the Central Florida media doesn't treat it as a coordinated attack on the Democrats, and the Florida Dems are such cowardly weenies, they aren't even defending themselves.
DeSatan wanted to get rid of the first, and only, Hispanic sheriff in Florida, so they arrested him for running protection for a massive $20 million dollar gambling operation.
The sheriff was an investor in an operation that had built three machine-based "casinos" in the region. One was right in the Sheriff's home town, right on the main drag through town, with giant plate glass windows exposing the brightly-lit machines to the street. They had registered the business with the state, and were doing everything in the open. There were dozens of these sort of operations going on all over the state. They didn't try to hide anything, they clearly thought it was legal.
So as I'm watching the breaking news coverage, listening to the talking heads gasp and clutch their pearls over the "massive illegal $20 million gambling operation," they took a commercial break, and cut to an ad for the Hard Rock Casino, the multi-BILLION dollar gambling operation just 45 minutes up the highway. So much for doing it to protect the public from the evils of gambling.
Oh, BTW, the only Hispanic Sheriff in Florida, re-elected by his constituents, was replaced by an unelected white guy with a couple of decades of anti-immigration experience, of course.
Its like roblox for adults!
Hot take. Ban betting on sports. It adds no value and destroys lives.