Kane County, like other places, has seen access to gambling increase “pretty dramatically” recently, according to the county health department’s executive director Michael Isaacson.
“We’ve always had casinos in this area, but now with online gambling, we’re seeing more and more people who are utilizing that,” he said.
That, coupled with access to video gambling machines across the county in various establishments, is changing the landscape of how people place bets — and maybe even who’s gambling in the first place.
In response, the Kane County Health Department is starting some efforts to raise awareness of problem gambling and help community members learn where they can turn for resources.
One of its first steps, Isaacson said, is a webinar for the public on the intersection of gambling and substance use disorders, which the health department is hosting Monday in partnership with the Illinois Council on Problem Gambling.
At the webinar, attendees will have an opportunity to learn about the connection between problem gambling and substance use, shared risk factors and warning signs, the role of trauma and stigma in these issues, and strategies for prevention, treatment and recovery, according to a news release from the health department.
The county efforts started after officials began doing some work on awareness of gambling issues with the Illinois Department of Human Services, and started looking into available survey data.
“It just kind of uncovered for us that this issue is growing,” Isaacson said.
According to a statewide gambling and problem gambling needs assessment commissioned by the Illinois Department of Human Services, 68% of adult residents of Illinois reported gambling in the past year, 3.8% of adult residents are considered to have a gambling problem and an additional 7.7% are at risk for developing one.
Notably, gambling at video gaming terminals and online sports betting have shown significant growth over time, the state assessment said.
Online betting in particular has grown increasingly accessible in recent years. Recent polling by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 14% of U.S. adults say they bet on professional or college sports online either frequently or occasionally. It’s still more common in casinos, however, where about one-quarter of U.S. adults say they have bet on sports in person at least “occasionally.”
A 2018 Supreme Court decision is responsible for opening the door to a now-multibillion-dollar sports betting industry. The court’s ruling struck down a 1992 federal law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, that had barred betting on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states, the Associated Press reported.
In the years since the ruling, sports betting has brought revenue to state governments, while also prompting concern about the potential for wrongdoing, as well as the impact it could have on athletes.
And recent polls have found that, although legalized sports betting has expanded, Americans are more skeptical of its role in U.S. society and sports.
All of this is further compounded by the new prevalence of prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, which allow individuals to place wagers online on everything from sports to politics to the weather.
Prediction markets differ from legal sportsbooks, which set odds and pay out winners themselves, in that prices for prediction markets are connected to what traders are willing to pay, which theoretically indicates the perceived probability of an event happening.
But online gambling generally increases accessibility, Isaacson said.
“The barrier to participation is much lower because a person doesn’t even have to go to a casino or go to a location that has online gambling,” Isaacson told The Beacon-News. “You literally can access it just on your telephone now.”
Increased online gambling options also make it “easier for gambling behaviors to develop and go unnoticed,” per the health department.
These modes for placing bets might also be drawing in a high number of young people.
“As we look into the future, that just gives us concern that … people are being introduced even at younger ages,” Isaacson said, “which we think can be very problematic.”
Prediction markets are fairly new, he noted, so there’s a lack of “solid data” on their effects.
“But I think … there’s a lot of potentially unintended consequences from that that, as a society, we’re going to have to look at that may have a negative impact on the public’s health,” Isaacson said.
And they’ve already generated controversy, such as a recent incident in which a U.S. soldier involved in the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro allegedly used classified information about the mission to win more than $400,000 in an online betting market, the Associated Press reported.
But Kane County has its share of physical gambling spots, too.
The county has casinos in Aurora and Elgin, an off-track betting establishment in North Aurora and more than 1,000 video gambling terminals in bars, restaurants, gas stations and gaming cafes across the area, per the health department.
And, as the county health department’s team began talking with its community partners working in behavioral health about gambling, it “became clear that substance use disorders and gambling may frequently go hand-in-hand,” Isaacson said, prompting the focus of the upcoming webinar.
Gambling has parallels with other addictive behaviors, he said, which often come from some “underlying reason.”
“We know, a lot of times, through both gambling and for alcohol use and drug use, those are really just coping mechanisms that people are using to escape a reality that they may have,” Isaacson said. “There may be trauma that people have experienced, or there may be other things going on in people’s lives.”
Additionally, as one of those addictions becomes a problem in someone’s life, it can exacerbate a different addiction the person may be dealing with, he explained.
The county health department is just beginning to delve into the issue of problem gambling, Isaacson said, but it has applied for funding to increase the resources it has available.
“We’re at the beginning of … our journey to provide more resources for the community in this space,” he said, though he pointed to available state resources and education. The county also has a behavioral health council and an overdose task force, which it works with on related issues.
But, for now, Isaacson is hoping the webinar can help people see the connection between gambling and substance use issues.
“We live in a society where both gambling and many substances are legal,” Isaacson said. “They may not be intrinsically bad. It depends on how people are utilizing them.”
The webinar will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. May 18, according to the Kane County Health Department. It’s open to the public, with registration available at: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/1AuDA4LsQg2YltdP6o2hTw.
Isaacson also said he hopes these efforts encourage people to “go upstream” and “look at what may be causing a behavior.”
“Ultimately, each person needs to make their own choice, but … for the people who may be struggling, we want them to know that there is help available,” Isaacson said. “We do want to work on reducing stigma.”
And while the webinar is open to the general public, Isaacson said the health department is also looking to reach community service providers, with the hope that they will better understand the connections between these issues for the people they serve.
“There’s always been gambling — the issue is when it gets out of control,” Isaacson said. “So, how can you work with somebody to identify … the reasons that this is getting out of control? What are the reasons that this is becoming such a negative impact on somebody’s life?”
The Associated Press contributed.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
