A recent commentary indicating that online betting is already in play in Hawaii was the typical clever wording from high-paid gambling advocates hired by the predatory gambling industry. The headline assumption, though, is indeed a false statement in Hawaii (“Online sports betting already in play, now is time to regulate,” Commentary, Star-Advertiser, April 24).
I’m not a paid advocate for any organization. My personal lifetime experience of hidden dangers of gambling tells me that the online industry offers a calculated, predatory, addictive product as dangerous as fentanyl is to drugs. Its hidden element makes the normal person who wagers have the potential to become addicted, taking everything from themselves and anyone who surrounds them. Not only money, but time and the conscience soul of the gambler.
The article itself paints the enormous benefits of having a legalized form of gambling. This fantasy is an illusion of the predatory gambling industry. Some of these states have started a gambling task force and appellate courts to counter the destruction of their citizens. Online gambling plays down with so-called responsible gambling tools and regulations.
I know firsthand; my gambling started when I was 13 years old on an innocent bet, which led me to wager thousands on a single bet. Although it was with New York City bookmakers, the same is absolutely true with online gambling. NYC bookmakers were more dignified than any online bookmakers of today. They didn’t offer free money or match up to $1,000 on a first-time bank account with impossible terms; these false promotional promises are now in many state courts for the legal lies to their clientele.
Another legalize-sports-betting falsehood promise is that it reduces the “illegal” betting world.
Many gamblers have found that the odds are improved with an illegal bookmaker instead of a legal online book, tracking every minute.
Simultaneously, it increases access and exposure, potentially leading people to develop gambling addiction. Studies show that the more accessible gambling becomes, the more people engage, and inevitably, a portion of those individuals will face addiction and financial hardship.
I have been in a gambling 12-step program for 28 years, and have seen the number of rooms increase by 100% since 2018.
It’s normal to be as young as 16 with a gambling addiction that was unheard of prior. Teenagers who gamble more than $1,000 per game have stolen from their parents to pay off the online bookmakers. They often have suicidal thoughts. They get legal bookmakers’ accounts by stealing one of their parents’ Social Security numbers and using a debit card purchased from any store.
Another falsehood is the so-called “responsible gambling” programs, which the client must enable, not the online site. The facts are that if the player has lost money, the VIP agents are trained to contact the victim and offer free amounts to continue to keep the client betting compulsively and to get the client addicted. The saying goes that the house always wins if the gambler consistently is the business model for online gambling. It creates the opportunity on your cellphone to become addicted.
Gambling prevention hotlines have tripled the volume of phone calls seeking help. Rehabs are opening throughout the continent, costing tens of thousands of dollars for six weeks of recovery. Often, gamblers return to betting afterward due to the same online site’s VIP program enticing the gambler to return. The online gambling industry has no morals.
In summary, Hawaii’s best move is not to approve House Bill 1308, but to resist the pressure of the predatory gambling industry and not legalize it at all. ———
Gary Schneider is a national board member of StopPredatoryGambling.org.
Gary Schneider is a national board member of StopPredatoryGambling.org.
