BILLINGS Super Bowl 58 has arrived and that means all bets are on. With the rise in popularity of sports betting, a record-breaking 26% of Americans are expected to bet on the big game. That meteoric rise has contributed to a rise in gambling addiction across the nation, concerning some health professionals. <\/p>\n
In Billings, Shooters Bar and Grill was brimming with excitement as folks like Wyatt Burns and Kevin Curley prepared for the Super Bowl. <\/p>\n
Came to have a beer and a shot, just to kind of loosen up before the festivities begin, said Burns on Sunday. <\/p>\n
You can bet these 49ers fans aren't just watching the game for the football. <\/p>\n
Alina Hauter\/MTN News <\/p>\n
Makes the game more enjoyable to watch when you got a little money on the line, Burns said. <\/p>\n
I bet big added Curley. <\/p>\n
Luckily, the pair isn't part of that growing number of people experiencing an addiction to gambling. <\/p>\n
Nationwide, as to the prevalence of the number of people that we suspect have a gambling disorder, is about 1% of the population, said Matt Perdue, medical director for Frontier Psychiatry in Billings. Perdue said that's around 3.4 million Americans. <\/p>\n
One of the areas of concern is the ease of access with the mobile platforms and those platforms often incentivizing getting started placing bets, added Perdue. <\/p>\n
Zoom <\/p>\n
Just like with alcohol or nicotine, addiction begins with compulsive changes to the brain and Montanans aren't immune. <\/p>\n
Montanas really followed this nationwide trend over the past couple of years with setting records each and every year for the revenue that theyre collecting from gambling, Perdue said. <\/p>\n
Worrisome as Perdue and other experts can only glean data from the past five years since sports betting was only legalized in 2019. <\/p>\n
I think absolutely its an area of concern for us to monitor and really see how things play out, said Perdue. <\/p>\n
But for Burns, it's another way to have some fun, even if he doesn't always win. <\/p>\n
For the most part, Ive got self control. Ive had a few losses where Ive woke up the next morning and said, ah, lets not do that again, Burns quipped. <\/p>\n
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Gambling disorders on the rise nationwide after legalization of sports betting - Q2 News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BILLINGS Super Bowl 58 has arrived and that means all bets are on. With the rise in popularity of sports betting, a record-breaking 26% of Americans are expected to bet on the big game. Continue reading