Online bets and teenagers: the beginning of gambling
The world of online bets a dangerous gap is being made between teenagers. Whereas before the average age of a person who started playing was 28 years old, it has now been reduced to 18 years. This decrease in the age of initiation has to do with the entry of new technologies.
Sports betting, online poker, roulettes through the Internet, etc. These are some of the new forms of play that, due to their easy access, cause many young people to end up hooking up.
Probably, if we think of someone hooked on the game, someone who suffers pathological gambling, comes to mind the typical neighborhood bar where the slot machine is, with its lights and sounds and a person in front of it throwing coins and pressing buttons while waiting that this time he will get the prize. Something similar happens with casinos or bingos, where so many people spend their leisure time.
However, all this is changing, the ways to access the game are different and the profile of the players too.
The beginning of gambling addiction: sports betting
All this technological revolution is making young people have access to the world of the game in an easy, fast and anonymous way, where betting, entertainment and earning "easy money" are the main motivations.
A study carried out by the Miguel Hernández University highlights that 1 out of 4 young people between 13 and 17 years old have participated in gambling, slot machines, poker and roulettes.
The sports bets are becoming the first step for teenagers to fall into the gambling problem, because you can bet in a short space of time on a lot of variables like who will win, who will score first, how many goals will one or the other team score ... which means that in a short space of time and with just a click fall into the illusion that you can earn money. In addition, young people see it as a way to entertain themselves and give more excitement to the games.
It is true that not all who place bets will end up being addicted, but if you bet without any control, the risk increases considerably. Everything begins in an innocent, very subtle and very social way, where the kid starts betting on his team matches with his friends and There comes a day where investing little money earns a lot and returns to invest and wins again, getting the wrong idea that he is a good player and that he can earn a lot of money if he keeps playing, this activates in his brain the circuits of pleasure, just as happens with substance addicts, this activation causes the behavior to repeat itself and again, constantly looking for that feeling.
Unfortunately and as expected the losses arrive and now the motivation to play is to recover the lost money. For this they bet more and more, and although they win sometimes, the losses always surpass the profits with what if it is necessary they ask for money to friends, relatives ... believing that they will recover it and all the problems begin. What used to be a way of getting involved in a social context is now a necessity.
Why are online bets hooked so much?
Experts agree that there are different characteristics that make this type of bets so addictive and that incite more and more young people to try, some of them are:
1. Easy access to these games. Now you can download an application on your mobile and play wherever you want and at any time 24 hours a day.
2. The anonymity provided by the internet. The peace of mind that nobody knows who you are.
3. The possibility of earning fast money. It makes more and more young and less "try their luck".
4. Immediateness You can bet at any time, before the match even during it.
5. The low cost. You can make little money bets, which makes it easier for many young people to have access and believe that the risk is minimal.
In addition to all these factors, we can not forget the impact that the publicity that they give to sports bets, the constant bombardment of the different ways of betting that exist and that, the reality is, is not so bad seen this type of online games: what's wrong with playing guess a sporting result? unlike what happens with machines, which have a much more negative social impact.
If we take into account that minors do not have access to casinos and gambling halls, online games become a good way to enter this world of the game, and more specifically in sports betting where those who play they are the youngest and those who have the least perception of risk.
We can not forget that gambling is a disease, where the person can not stop playing, because if he leaves he suffers a lot of anxiety, generated by the withdrawal syndrome, but that has treatment and solution.
Rocío Navarro Psychologist Director of Psicolari, integral psychology
