As state lawmakers eye opening the online casino door in Ohio, a sad cautionary tale is being relayed across the border. Within six months, an owner of a construction company in Michigan lost all her wealth, including the 2 million dollars, home, business, cars, and retirement, and she is now telling her story so that other people do not encounter what she went through: online gambling.
From Success to Ruin in Six Months
Her building firm was under pressure during COVID-19 when the prices of lumber started escalating. With no means of getting out of debt, she resorted to internet gambling, which had just been legalized in Michigan. On the first day, a casino bonus of a blackjack bet of 1,000 dollars won 25,000 dollars. The decisive victory led her to crushing losses in a pursuit of money she spent hours per day hunting. After six months, she lost 2 million dollars: home, business, cars, and retirement, she told News 5 Cleveland.
The Dangerous Accessibility Factor
The female highlights another important distinction between the old-school and internet gambling that caused her habit to be so harmful: there is always access to it. Whereas infrequent trips to physical casinos had never been a problem, the fact that online gambling is accessible 24 hours a day induced an addiction that was very hard to quit, according to the problem gambler.
You can do it on the way to work driving down the road; you can do it in the bathroom. Therefore, she explained, as such, online gambling, which is advantageous and can be done anywhere at any time, is also quite dangerous, namely due to the convenience factor that contributes to its addictive nature.
Probably what was most appalling was the fact that certain online casino operators were really going out of their way and encouraging her further gambling. Whereas two casinos acted responsibly and stopped serving her a month after discovering problematic behavior, the other two continued to serve her up to thousands of dollars per week. They would give me money even if I did not work, thousands of dollars.”
Ohio’s Growing Gambling Problem
In Ohio, the effects of increased gambling opportunities have already been experienced. In the two and a half years since sports betting was legalized in the state, an amount close to 20 billion dollars has been bet on it. The data presented by the state show that there is an alarming development: The number of a potentially gambling-care population in Ohio has increased, as since 2012, the figure rose to 20 percent in 2022, correlated with the expansion of gambling activity.
The Townhall II behavioral health organization in Kent has recorded a 25-30 percent rise in the number of gambling addicts since the introduction of online sports betting, Tamera Hunter, the manager of the organization, said. Since that time, her remarks revealed that gambling addiction has drastically inflated, and the state can no longer keep up with an upsurge in treatment demands.
The Policy Debate
Online gambling supporters believe that legalized online gambling comes with regulation and tax money. According to Trevor Hayes of Caesars Entertainment, regulation allows this to come out of the shadows as you have proper controls, such as making sure minors do not make bets and monitoring the movement of money.
Nonetheless, Governor Mike DeWine voiced his great concerns with respect to addiction potential, as the state would provide online gambling 24/7 to all those who have access to a smartphone, causing what he referred to as a massive addiction potential.
Derek Longmeier of the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio offers the following criticism: Where will they get these millions of dollars in promised tax revenues? You are not going to the movies nor to dinner; you are not paying your rent?
A Powerful Warning
A few years have passed since then, and now she has turned tragedy into advocacy. I really do not want this to happen to another person. I do not believe that he should have had the opportunity to lose that amount of money within that short moment of time, so she warns Ohio. In her story, one sees that beyond the likely bright outcome of tax and regulation income is the personal disaster. This is what Ohio is finding out after her gambling evolved into a daily temptation nearly all the time. These issues will be tackled during the July National Conference on Gambling Addiction in Columbus when experts across the country deal with the widening effects of digital gambling.
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