The Online Gambling Epidemic

By Jack Strulowitz

A little while ago, I was on a Zoom call with a couple who had been referred to me by a local chesed organization. They were falling behind on their monthly bills and needed help building a realistic budget. We were sharing screens, going through their credit card transactions line by line. As we scrolled, a series of small charges from an online betting app kept popping up under the husband’s name. $10 here, $20 there. He got quiet, gave an embarrassed smile, and said something like, “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to scale back on that. It’s just a harmless little thing. I’m going to stop.”

He said it casually, and the reaction was familiar. A mix of embarrassment and minimization. It always starts this way. A bet here, a bet there, nothing that feels like a real problem.

But situations like this are no longer isolated. What used to be an occasional vice has quietly become a nationwide epidemic. With the explosive growth of online gambling and the success of companies like DraftKings, FanDuel, and countless other platforms, betting has been woven into mainstream culture at a speed no one was prepared for. Online gambling is reaching people who would never walk into a casino or think of themselves as gamblers. And it is happening quietly, privately, and at a scale most people do not yet realize.

Part of the reason is the force behind these betting platforms. They are spending staggering amounts of money on celebrity endorsements. The biggest names in sports and entertainment are being paid to promote these betting apps. Commercials, podcasts, social media, stadium signage, etc. Everywhere you look, celebrities are smiling while talking about betting like it is normal entertainment.

Sports entertainment itself has become saturated with betting. The line between watching sports and betting on sports has become increasingly blurred. Eight out of the top ten sports apps on the App Store today are betting apps. Live broadcasts reference odds. Pre-game shows discuss lines. Even highlight clips online are surrounded by promo codes and betting commentary. Watching a game today often comes with the expectation that you’ll bet on it.

And the online culture around gambling makes it even worse. There are endless posts of people bragging about “strategic hedge bets,” “sure things,” or massive payouts. Others, with no real strategy at all, post their lucky wins as if they’ve cracked some system. It gives the impression that people are making real money doing this. But the reality is much grimmer. These platforms are not designed for people to win. They are designed for people to keep playing.

For people who don’t use these apps, it’s important to understand how they actually work. You download the app. You deposit money in seconds. You’re immediately offered “free money” to place your first bet. It feels like a generous welcome, but it is not. It’s a hook. These companies pour millions into building platforms that remove friction, shorten decision-making, and trigger dopamine instantly. The simplicity is engineered to get you betting before you think about what you’re doing.

Once you’re in, the design keeps you there. Live betting. Micro bets. Parlays. Flashy graphics when you win. Fast payouts straight to your phone. Every feature pushes you toward placing another bet. This has nothing to do with intelligence or discipline. These apps operate on emotional and psychological triggers, not logic.

And it no longer stops at sports. You can now bet on almost anything. Political elections. Award shows. Current events. Reality TV. With platforms like Polymarket, whatever is trending becomes a betting market. Commentators reference betting spreads to predict real world events. Gambling is being woven into entertainment, media, and everyday conversation.

From a financial advisor’s perspective, this is extremely concerning. A large part of my job is helping people understand their behavior with money. Money is emotional. People rarely make financial decisions in a purely rational state. When something combines emotional decision making with addictive design and instant access, it becomes a major financial hazard.

This is why budgeting for gambling does not work. People might tell themselves they will only spend a little each month, but gambling is not a controlled expense. It is impulsive. It does not stay inside a neat category. It shows up in scattered charges that only become noticeable when the credit card bill is already higher than expected.

And this is where the real damage happens.

Families are being destroyed by this issue. What started as $10 or $20 can snowball into thousands. For many, it turns into tens of thousands of dollars lost forever. And many of these people were already in debt, living paycheck to paycheck or without any financial cushion for losses of that size. The person experiences shame and a fear of being found out. Their debt increases. By the time they realize how bad it is, the hole is deep.

What makes this crisis even more dangerous is how harmless it feels at the beginning. People assume they will stop if it gets out of hand. But that confidence is exactly the trap. Every addiction begins with the belief that it’s easy to control—and these platforms rely on that belief.

My advice is simple. Be extreme in avoiding this entirely. Not because people are weak, but because these products are engineered to overpower discipline. If someone is not already involved, the safest approach is to stay far away. There is no benefit worth the psychological and financial risk.

Online gambling has quietly become one of the most overlooked threats to household financial stability. Disguised as entertainment, boosted by celebrities, reinforced by online culture, saturated into sports, wrapped in promotions, and delivered through apps designed to exploit human behavior, it drains savings, creates stress, and puts families in real danger.

This is a crisis. Awareness is the first step. Avoidance is the second. n

Jack Strulowitz is a Financial Advisor at Bernath & Rosenberg in Cedarhurst, NY, where he helps high–net worth individuals and families manage their investments and build comprehensive strategies for retirement, tax, and estate planning. For questions or to schedule a consultation, please contact [email protected] or 847-962-3352.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. 

Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC.