“I have seen friends lose hundreds, if not thousands, in months due to gambling. Keep in mind these are broke college kids who struggle already to keep finances in order since most don’t have a job.” said junior Alex Achmetov.
Many adults already deal with gambling or sports betting and struggle to contain it. Now younger adults, including college students, are betting.
Dec. 29, 2022. in Cleveland.
Source: AP Photo, David Dermer
“It has become common around me, there are a lot of people that I know that do it on a regular basis.” said junior Robert Feulner. “I usually see people use Fliff or DraftKings.”
Fliff is a social sportsbook that uses virtual currency that can be used by anyone, even under the age of 21. You have to be 18 to deposit currency, at least 50 dollars, into a bank account. Each account gets a free dollar to gamble per day.
DraftKings is one of three online sportsbooks available in Connecticut and is the sportsbook in the state’s biggest casino, Mohegan Sun.
In Connecticut it is illegal to bet on college sports teams that are in the same state, but that does not stop people from betting on professional sports.
A problem many gamblers have is setting a limit, as betting apps have them available but do not have them required or even recommended. Some people gamble comfortably; in a range they are comfortable spending money on, while others can find themselves in financial trouble.
“I have seen friends in financial stress because of gambling to the point where they are asking to take a loan out from their family and friends to either buy something at school or to pay someone back,” said Achmetov.
People can see gambling as a fun way to watch sports while others may not see it as a problem, but it can become destructive over time.
“If you are doing it in moderation, such as maybe throwing a few dollars on a sports game you are attending in person, or if you are watching the Stanley Cup, Super Bowl, World Series, etc. then in my opinion that is ok,” said Achmetov. “But if a person is gambling every day or most days of the week and is constantly stressing how they are going to make their money back from the night before then that is a problem.”
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has recently made a push to allow all college athletes to be able to gamble on professional sports. Division I personnel have accepted the change and are now waiting for divisions II and III to also accept for the change to be fulfilled.
“Yes, I feel like they should be able to,” said sophomore Brett Clowry.
The change would not affect the rule that college athletes are not allowed to sports bet on any collegiate events as three players just this year were banned from the NCAA for betting on their own games against Fresno State University and San Jose State University.
The state of Connecticut offers many resources to help people of any age with gambling addiction.
They offer a self-exclusion program that helps people with this addiction to distance themselves from gambling and ban themselves from all gambling in the state.
