“They’ll make bets and bets and bets and bets and then wonder, ‘how the hell did I get here?’” ”It almost feels like binge drinking or methamphetamines, where they are going on benders,” he says. Students from low-income families are particularly vulnerable, as they lack the financial safety net to bounce back from losses. Served up to students through ubiquitous ads that offer promises of “free” bets and easy wins, the apps sink their hooks deep into students, leading them to spend their financial aid money, lie to their parents, and ignore their studies so they can keep playing, he says. The majority of the gambling takes place on mobile phones, Ozmat says, largely-although not exclusively-on sports betting apps.
“We started asking about it in every appointment and everyone has something to say. “Since the beginning of the project three years ago, students have brought up, unprompted, gambling,” Ozmat says. Instead, he heard about problem gambling. student in psychology at the University at Albany, first began counseling undergraduates about HIV and substance abuse, he expected to hear about their health issues.
