CLEVELAND — Michael Buzzelli is the associate director of the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio. He said some ads for sports betting can be misleading since it offers free money for new members and says your first bet is risk-free.
“This is letting the new customer know that hey it’s risk free and you can win $1000 when that’s pretty much not true,” Buzzelli said. “You eventually have to put in your own money to get to that level.”
He said these marketing techniques and gaming credits can hook someone in, and could lead to a gambling addiction. He bases this off a psychological concept called intermittent reinforcement, which he says happens when someone wins at random intervals, making it more fun compared to winning all the time.
“A reward feels better if it’s unexpected and if it comes less often,” Buzzelli said. “If we win all the time, it’s not gonna be exciting anymore. We’re gonna expect it.”
Buzzelli said winning early on with these credits can create an illusion that someone is doing well and has advanced knowledge of how to win in sports betting.
“You get a false sense of skill, a false sense of knowledge over the game,” Buzzelli said. “If you continue to win, you think you have skill over the game. You think you have knowledge of the game.”
The State Casino Control Commission deemed some of these ads as illegal. They sent notices of violations toward DraftKings, BetMgm and Caesars, saying they offered betting credits if someone put their own money down first. State law said an operator can’t offer a betting credit if someone risks losing any money in order to use it. None of the three operators returned a request for comment.
“We opened up the chance for operators to play,” Buzzelli said. “But they’re gonna have to follow our rules.”
The state also flagged ads that have the sports betting promotion in large font, but have the problem gambling hotline in smaller font. Buzzelli said the font about getting help is too small to read in some ads.
“You have to blow it up a couple of times and once you get it to where you can actually see it, it’s pretty blurry,” Buzzelli said while looking at an ad with a small font for the gambling problem hotline.
Some ads were flagged by the state for having no problem gambling number at all on them. Buzzelli said if gaming promotions are this accessible on smartphones, then access to resources should be as well.
“When they’re looking at these ads and they see how much money they might be able to win,” Buzzelli said. “Or the promo codes or all these triggering languages. They need to see that help is available.”
Buzzelli said getting help with gambling is free and is available to anyone who needs it.
