Editorial: Gambling made easy

Posted 2/15/19

In most casual fashion, Rhode Island is putting big money on a most dangerous bet.

The state is wagering that the few millions a year it expects to win from on-line sports betting will offset the …

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Editorial: Gambling made easy

Posted

In most casual fashion, Rhode Island is putting big money on a most dangerous bet.

The state is wagering that the few millions a year it expects to win from on-line sports betting will offset the unknown cost to individuals and families sucked in and ruined by this effortless new form of gambling.

And when they lose, so too of course does the state to whom these broken families must inevitably turn for help.

Desperate to balance a smoke and mirrors budget laden with big new costs like expanded free college, the governor is all in on at-home sports betting. It’s described as sort of the same thing as what’s already being done at Twin River, just more convenient.

Except it’s nothing like that.

Addiction experts say the key is to keep temptation at arm’s length — never make it too easy. In other words, no cigarettes in the kitchen drawer, no beer or liquor in the cabinet.

That way, when the urge hits in a moment of stress or the middle of the night, the nicotine or alcohol answer is not right at hand. Relapse requires getting in the car and taking a drive — a pause that takes the time, effort and thought that might make all the difference.

Sports betting now takes a bit of work and is difficult to disguise. It requires the time (and excuse to spouse or children) for a drive to Tiverton or Lincoln, perhaps late at night, maybe in miserable weather.

But done by cell phone it can happen right on the living room couch with nobody else in the house the wiser.

Fueled, perhaps, by a beer or three and the confidence needed to pick Celtics over Lakers (which turned out badly last Thursday), the bet is a few phone clicks and seconds away.

Unlike the old days, you don’t need to know a guy to put a bet down, there’s no fear that that guy will visit with a hammer if you’re slow paying up — it’s all so very easy.

It’s so simple that, in desperate attempt to undo instant damage done to the bank account, bet can follow losing bet, all without leaving the sofa. Savings, college account, marriage — gambling addicts know that there’s no limit to the frightful things that can happen in a flash.

The state is becoming enabler and cheerleader in chief to the many thousands for whom gambling made easy is a recipe for disaster.

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MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.