Legal mobile sports betting began in New York in 2022. As WAMC Southern Adirondack Bureau Chief Aaron Shellow-Lavine reports, with the proliferation of gambling mobile apps, the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports is trying to combat so-called “problem gambling.”
Gambling is nothing new to Saratoga Springs. Its first illicit casinos and gambling houses were established in the 1840s. 100 years later, New York State put a pari-mutuel betting system in place at Saratoga Race Course. Ever since, fans and tourists have flocked to the Spa City to play the ponies.
Mary O’Hara and her friends have been driving upstate from Long Island every summer for 16 years to gamble at the historic venue.
She said gambling at the track has changed since they first started coming.
“Now ... you have to go to buy a voucher; it’s easier. Not as many pari-mutuel clerks,” said O’Hara. “But we don’t care; we use the vouchers anyway.”
She’s not one of the millions of Americans who regularly use mobile sports betting apps.
“Well, I’m kind of an idiot with the phone anyway, so I’d probably lose my house making a poor wager. But, no, we just come here and enjoy,” said O’Hara. “We go to Belmont [Park]. We used to go to Monmouth [Park] once in a while on a family fun day just for fun. We’re very casual.”
The state Office of Addiction Services and Supports' “Take a Pause” campaign is aimed at individuals experiencing problem gambling, which can be easy to fall into with the easy access provided by mobile betting apps.
O’Hara said it’s a good thing the state is investing in problem gambling resources.
“Because I think a lot of kids, they’re betting basketball and hockey only because they can. Soccer [, too]. My son had never made a bet in his life and downloaded this app so he could bet on the soccer, the World Cup,” said O’Hara. “And that's something that could become a problem if you win and now, 'Oh, I'm going to start betting on something else.' So, it could be a problem for the younger kids, not us old-timers.”
OASAS Associate Commissioner Jerry Gretzinger said the campaign has been a success.
“You know to take a moment and think about how much you’re spending, and if you’re enjoying the moment or just getting caught up in continuing to make one wager after the next. And what we’ve seen is, I was just looking at it this morning; I think it was in 2022, the traffic to our gambling webpage, that has information and resources and help, had about 38,000 visitors in the year,” said Gretzinger. “And so, that has gone up every single year since we’ve been doing this, and just as of this morning, we have 190,000 visits to our gambling webpage. That’s just from Jan. 1 of this year to today.”
In July, Gov. Kathy Hochul filed a lawsuit against the prediction market Kalshi for allegedly running an illegal gambling operation, arguing the site has “chosen to ignore New York’s gaming laws.” Kalshi claims it is "a regulated exchange & prediction market where you can trade on the outcome of real-world events."
State Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, who chairs the committee on racing and wagering, said she’s been pushing to add friction to mobile gambling operations.
Research appears to back the growing concern over mobile wagering.
One working paper from researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California has found that bankruptcies have risen by 28% and debt-collection amounts have grown by 8% in the 38 states where online sports betting has been approved. The study estimates roughly 100,000 more bankruptcies are filed each year as a result.
The latest advancement in OASAS messaging included the lived experiences of individuals who have faced gambling addiction or problem gambling.
Gretzinger said it’s working so far.
“So many times people will be at that point where they’ve lost too much money, they’re spending too much time gambling. They’re straining their family connections, their friendships, and they’re wondering ‘how can I find my way out of this?’ And to see someone who has been where you are, who found a way to turn it around and get back on top of their lives, like they have, I think it’s inspirational,” said Gretzinger. “And what we’ve heard is that people see these stories and they're thankful for them, and we just hope more people see it. And, again, we’re not coming out and saying this is bad. We’re saying take a pause, slow down, just be sure you are completely aware of what you’re doing and how much you’re doing it.”
