Thursday, February 08, 2007

A simple bet on which team will win today's Super Bowl matchup between the
Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts won't be enough for hard-core gamblers.
Bookmakers are taking hundreds of side bets that range from choosing the
winner of the opening coin toss to picking the direction of the first errant
field goal, wide left or wide right. Wide left is favored. Most of us may
laugh at the unusual bets that will be laid down, but for compulsive
gamblers the Super Bowl is serious business. For many of them, it represents
the ultimate score, the last chance to win back everything they lost in the
past year. "Compulsive gamblers use the Super Bowl as a catch-up day," said
Harvey Fogel, an addictions counselor and expert on compulsive gambling.
"They'll put a lot on Chicago or Indianapolis in the hope that they'll break
even for the year. But half of them will be losers. It will be a disaster
financially. They will hit rock bottom." Fogel expects to be busy fielding
calls from despondent bettors when he walks into work Monday morning at
AtlantiCare Behavioral Health in Egg Harbor Township. For losing gamblers,
Super Bowl Sunday will be a day of pain, like the alcoholic who deals with a
severe hangover after a heavy night of drinking on New Year's Eve. Dave, a
recovering compulsive gambler who asked to be identified by his first name
only, said the turning point for him was three days before last year's Super
Bowl. He was arrested for bookmaking and decided then to give up gambling.
He said he had a relapse during the March Madness of the NCAA men's college
basketball tournament, but has been straight ever since. For the Super Bowl,
I won't put myself in a situation where I'll want to bet," he said. "I won't
read the newspapers. I won't watch the game without my family. If I feel the
need, I'll reach out to people in the treatment program. It's the same thing
during March Madness, because that's weeks of betting action." Experts
estimate the NCAA basketball tournament is the nation's largest gambling
event, but the Super Bowl is the biggest single game for wagering. Nevada,
where sports betting is legal, is expected to take in more than $100 million
in Super Bowl wagers. It is anyone's guess how many illegal bets will be
placed on the game, although estimates range in the billions of dollars.
Sports betting is illegal in New Jersey. Ed Looney, executive director of
the New Jersey Council on Compulsive Gambling, said Internet gambling and
illicit bookmaking offer easy avenues for Super Bowl betting. However, a
recent federal crackdown on Internet gambling, which is illegal in the
United States, may force bettors to use bookmakers even more, he noted.
"This is going to be the biggest day of the year for sports betting," Looney
said. "Traditionally, this seems to be a real big payout for the bookies."
In the next four or five weeks, the number of calls likely will surge to the
1-800-GAMBLER hotline that Looney's agency operates. Looney said compulsive
gamblers will scurry around for a few weeks after the Super Bowl hoping to
find the money to cover their losses, but eventually they give up and call
the gambling help line in desperation. Dave, the recovering compulsive
gambler, said losers will tap out their bank accounts or credit cards,
embezzle from their employers or beg, borrow or steal from family members.
"You're making up stories that you know they aren't believing, but you do it
anyway because you have to feed your addiction," he said of borrowing money
from family members. In the old days, compulsive gamblers would often turn
to loan sharks for cash, but now credit cards are a convenient way for them
to continue their binges, according to Fogel. "One of the big problems today
is the credit card," he said. "A lot of compulsive gamblers are hard workers
and have good jobs, but they max out their credit cards. For a while, they
get by by paying the minimum. Then it falls down around their ears."