CINCINNATI – The New Year marks the start of a new, multi-million dollar business in Ohio: sports betting. New state law will permit sports gaming online, at casinos and sports arenas as well as permitted bars and restaurants, opening up a new form of gambling to new demographics. 

The Ohio Casino Control Commission is expecting a boon of millions in new tax revenue for the state, but while many are eager to see the new model take off, those who work with compulsive gamblers are expecting a spike in calls to their helpline and many facing life-changing consequences from legalization. 

What You Need To Know

  • Ohio sports betting launches Jan. 1.

  • Clinics fear accessibility to sports betting will lead to a rise in addiction.

  • Addiction often requires treatment of underlying mental illness.

  • Gambling addiction is associated with high suicide rates.

To Chris Tuell, the Clinical Director of Addiction Services at the Lindner Center of HOPE, the biggest impact of legalizing sports betting will probably be its accessibility.

Instead of going to a casino or racino, betters can gamble at arenas, bars and restaurants, and anywhere they can get a cellphone signal.

“It brings it into the home,” he said. “We know wherever there’s more accessibility there’s more problematic use.”

According to the Ohio Department of Mental Health Addiction Services, there are about 264,000 adults and 38,000 adolescents with problem gambling behaviors, and Tuell expects that number to rise as sports betting takes off. 

“We just need to be very conscious of this,” he said.

For Tuell, that starts with ensuring people know the signs of problem gambling and how dire the consequences can get.

A few of the screening questions he uses at his clinic include, have they ever felt like they wanted to stop gambling but were unsuccessful, after losing does someone go back and try to chase those losses, and have you ever borrowed money or committed an illegal act to finance gambling? 

Once a compulsive behavioral addiction takes hold, Tuell said it functions similarly to substance addiction, your brain comes to rely on the behavior, chasing the “high” that comes from a numerological chemical release related to the addiction.

“The brain doesn’t really care what it is,” he said. “It doesn’t care if I put in my veins, pour it down my throat, put it in my nose, see it with my eyes or do it with my hands. The same neurochemical process is happening in the brain.”

Tuell said problem gambling can be a particularly dangerous addiction, however, as it has the highest suicide rate compared to any other addictive disorder.

“It can destroy people’s lives,” he said.

Tuell said clinical treatment means addressing the underlying reasons that might contribute to problem gambling behavior, often untreated depression or anxiety.

“They think, ‘I don’t want to feel that depression that trauma so I’m going to try to find anything to escape from it,’” he said. “So we work on becoming aware of what are some of the triggers in my life, what are the situations in my life that maybe trigger me down that pathway to gamble.”

Tuell acknowledges most people who will engage in sports betting across Ohio will not develop problem gambling habits, but for those who do, he said it’s important to understand what it looks like, how harmful it can be, and where people can go for help.

The Ohio Casino Commission expects sports betting to bring in millions of dollars a year in tax revenue, 2% of which will go to programs to combat gambling addiction.

Anyone looking for resources to address compulsive gambling can do so by clicking here or by calling Ohio’s problem gambling helpline at 800-589-9966.