As online gambling booms in popularity, so do the number of 20- and 30-somethings seeking help for the compulsive need to wager in Pennsylvania.
More of the callers to a statewide helpline for people seeking assistance with problem gambling are age 18 to 34. In 2024, those ages made up about 34% of all callers seeking help, compared to 23% in 2019.
The younger generation appears to be more ready to seek help, said Josh Ercole, executive director of the nonprofit Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania.
“There seems to be less of a mistrust or a feeling of you know, embarrassment, with seeking help,” he said. “We have a lot of counselors that are saying that they’re seeing much younger folks come into treatment. Some counselors are almost exclusively working with younger folks who are experiencing problems with sports betting.”
The Council on Compulsive Gambling manages the 1-800-GAMBLER helpline through a contract with the state. Overall, those calls have been rising since 2020, but 2023 brought a plateau, according to annual helpline reports.
Almost 2,200 people statewide called for assistance last year, according to numbers provided by Ercole. That’s a drop of about 500 from 2023.
But Ercole said this is to be expected for a few reasons. Typically, a plateau happens a few years after new types of gambling are legalized.
“I would anticipate that we’ll see things remain at this level in the coming years, but it doesn’t necessarily mean things have changed,” he said. “It’s just that the increase in calls hasn’t continued to grow. It’s important to remember that calls for help represent only a fraction of those who are experiencing issues, so finding new ways to connect is always a priority.”
Another reason the number of calls may have gone down is the increasing number of people reaching out for help through the text and chat lines. More than 500 people used those lines to get support in 2024.
And while the number of calls dropped in 2024, Ercole said it’s still worrisome because “the baseline is still significantly higher than just a few years ago.” In 2014, the number of calls was about 1,500.
Philadelphia and Allegheny counties get the bulk of the callers, totaling about 30% of all calls made in December.
FanDuel and Rivers Casino both declined to comment on these statistics. DraftKings has not responded to requests for comment.
Jody Bechtold, a Pittsburgh-based gambling addictions expert and CEO of The Better Institute, said younger people struggle to handle the issue of compulsive gambling.
“No one is telling them how to do it safely, how to do it responsibly,” said Bechtold, who offers services across the state.
“Their peers would say, ‘Hey, don’t drink and drive’ or ‘Let’s hang out a little bit longer before you leave so you can kind of sober up,’ but when they see somebody super angry and compulsively gambling, they don’t know how to talk to them.”
When someone contacts the statewide helpline, either through text, internet chat or a phone call, they speak with an operator who connects them with resources to address any issues that prompted the call.
The 24/7 confidential helpline can give referrals for treatment and counselors, Gamblers Anonymous meetings, financial aid services, self-exclusion and other recovery information.
The Council on Compulsive Gambling works closely with county and state groups to expand resources in the face of increased demand, including working with counselors offering no-cost treatment services to problem gamblers, Ercole said.
While the operator works to find the best resources for the caller, they also collect demographic data and information on their gambling habits, something that revealed the trend of callers getting younger.
That coincides with shifting statistics on the forms of problematic gambling that callers contacted the helpline to address. Bechtold said online sports betting grabbed a new group of gamblers — young tech-savvy sports fans.
In 2019, 5% of callers identified online gambling as the most problematic form they or a
loved one was engaging in. That rose to just under 24% in 2022.
After 2022, online gambling was subdivided into multiple categories in the annual reports,
but internet slots, online sports betting and casino slots were the most commonly
reported forms of problematic gambling in 2024.
Online gambling, including online sports betting, was legalized in Pennsylvania in 2017.
The easy access of online gambling makes it especially appealing — and risky to some, Ercole said.
“I think just the fact that we’re seeing so many that are struggling with something that they no longer need to travel to or can only get to from time to time, now they can access it anytime they reach into their pocket and access their mobile device, that’s concerning,” he said.
Do you suspect someone you know has a gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or get resources from the Pennsylvania Department of Drug & Alcohol Programs.
The Next Generation Newsroom, part of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University, is a regional news service that focuses on government and enterprise reporting in southwestern Pennsylvania. Find out more information on foundation and corporate funders here.
Abigail is a Pittsburgh-based freelance multimedia journalist and staff reporter with Next Generation Newsroom. Email her at abigailhakas@yahoo.com.