Sports betting adds to gambling epidemic
According to the American Gaming Association, every 3.6 seconds a bet is made in the United States as Americans have dramatically increased their sports betting and gambling addiction since the landmark Murphy vs. NCAA, ruled on in the United States Supreme Court.
The Murphy case allowed states to legalize sports betting in 2018 and has led to a gambling epidemic that has made its way into professional sports.
Today, with gambling being legalized, the temptation to fix games has been chronicled as prominent NBA figures, and other athletes, have been arrested by the FBI for multiple forms of illegal gambling.
Most notably NBA hall-of-famer and former head coach of the Portland Trailblazers, Chauncey Billups was charged with rigging high stakes poker games.
The FBI alleged the rigged games spanned for years as Billups lured unknowing NBA players and whales (a term used to describe a person with unlimited access to money) to rigged poker games with promises of them playing along-side celebrities.
Billups was arrested and charged with wire fraud, money laundering, extorting and gambling, according to Reuters’ Joseph Ax and Maria Tsvetkova.
Fox news, Ryan Morik also reported that another marquee NBA player; Terry Rozier was charged and arrested in 2023. The arrest report alleges his involvement stemming from a game in which he played less than ten minutes before citing a foot injury.
Rozier had informed bettors as to the injury and they placed huge wagers on Rozier to perform poorly and won substantial amounts of cash for the illegal bet.
Rozier’s attorney Jim Trusty claims the government over stepped its legal boundaries when accusing his client of these allegations of sports betting schemes.
According to FBI Director Kash Patel, Rozier and at least 30 other people were part of a FBI probe into alleged illegal gambling with ties to the Mob.
More specifically, NYC prosecutors who partnered with the FBI, alleged members of organized crime families including the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese families were involved with Rozier and several NBA insiders who divulged sensitive information about upcoming games to their criminal counter-parts.
According to American Gaming Association, illegal sports betting schemes, crime organizations, and average Joes wagered an estimated $85 billion in the underground or illegal sports betting market.
The Journal of American Medical Association stated opportunities for sports agencies and bookies to scam the public out of millions or billions of dollars in the legal gaming industry has become more prevalent.
The exhilarating feeling of cashing in on the big bucks often over powers a person’s sheer will to think logically and act compulsively, leaving experts to resolve gambling as an addiction, according to a study done by Maine Institute of Medicine.
“I think those NBA guys were operating with a criminal mentality not addiction. Being incarcerated allows me to see that because I used to think the same way,” said resident Sonney. “I really don’t know if gambling’s an addiction or even something bad for that matter, I just think people should be held accountable for their actions and if you do have a problem, ask for help. For me, I don’t gamble at all.”
“One thing is for certain, too much of anything can become a problem if we don’t manage it accordingly,” said resident Ryan Chavez.
If you’re an NBA player, a grocery store warehouse worker, or an incarcerated person on the path to redemption, ask yourself this, how much does gambling really cost?
For more information regarding addiction and recovery contact Narcotics Anonymous world services @www.na.org, phone #(818) 773-9999.