Before reaching the legal age, 26-year-old Unai Garma from Argentina had already created an account with an online gambling platform. What began as one-euro bets during weekend football games with friends escalated into constant monitoring of money at risk via mobile phone. It was at this point that the dependency worsened. Garma explains, "Betting online gives you many facilities to do it whenever and on whatever you want." According to a report by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, presented in late October, online gambling multiplies the risks of addiction by six.
Of the over one and a half million active online players in Spain, 11.54% show symptoms of gambling addiction, while the percentage drops to 1.77% for those who gamble in person, according to the same report. Slot machines, at 52%, and sports betting, at 18%, are two segments with a higher risk. Symptoms, as identified in a survey of over 18,000 households, include lying, loss of control, worry, and interference in other aspects of daily life.
Two factors exacerbate addiction through the internet: the ease of playing at any time and place and losing track of the money being wagered. Garma confirms both, stating that while betting from his room or at university, "no one noticed." Another rehabilitated former gambler, a 44-year-old Galician who prefers to remain anonymous, recalls the reasons for the increased risk. "You are not aware of the money; there was a day I won a lot, and the next day I blew it all," he remembers. In his case, he started gambling online directly to avoid detection. It was in 2008 when his wife lost her job. The addiction lasted over a decade and left a trail of debts he is still paying off.
For Valencia-based psychologist specializing in gambling addiction, Sara Meca, online betting introduces variables that increase the risk. "Environmental characteristics such as intimacy, comfort, and ease, or structural factors like the immediacy of reward and speed, are aggravated," argues Meca. Juan Lamas, the technical director of the Spanish Federation of Rehabilitated Gambling Players (FEJAR), agrees, stating that four traits contribute to addiction: "Accessibility, availability, anonymity, and age of onset."
A glance at any casino site is enough to see the multitude of possibilities for risking money. At all hours, every day of the year. From corner kicks in a football match to predicting the winner of the next point in a tennis match. With the obsession of recovering money taken from the family piggy bank or borrowed from friends, Garma recounts that he even bet on "a Thai badminton match or greyhound races," without even knowing who was participating.
The vast offering and the shift in consumption trends are indicative of the rise of online gambling and legit online casinos in the last decade. The business volume has continuously grown, increasing from 110 million euros in revenue in the first quarter of 2012 to 824 million in the first quarter of 2023, according to the National Commission of Markets and Competition.
Currently, online gambling represents 8.7% of total gambling expenditure— the difference between amounts deposited and withdrawn by customers— and has maintained an upward trend since its regulation in 2011, according to the Star Gambling Group in Spain 2022, prepared by the Business Council of Gambling.
The occasional stimulus of winning bets was an exception amid a constant feeling of anxiety, according to both rehabilitated gamblers. Garma felt "ashamed" to meet up with friends in case they brought up the topic. "I lived in constant restlessness, nervousness, and couldn't sleep," he recalls.
Sleep was also one of the first casualties for the rehabilitated Galician gambler. "Sometimes I woke up at three in the morning and started checking the results; other times, I did it right after getting up," he remembers. An obsession that prevented him from enjoying "dinner with friends or a conversation with his wife," as his mind was preoccupied with bets.
The psychologist cites this loss of social circles as one of the main symptoms when addiction is more advanced. "There is anxiety and financial stress that ends up distancing you from the social, family, and work spheres," explains Meca.
For the 26-year-old Argentina native, his family caught on after "a year and a bit" of hiding it. They gave him the choice between starting group therapy for rehabilitation or being kicked out of the house, and he chose the former. "It was my birthday, and that's when I opened my eyes. In therapy, there were older people who talked about being in debt, having to sell their car, or getting divorced. At 20, I was scared," confesses Garma. It wasn't as straightforward for the 44-year-old Galician, who relapsed into gambling. "It's a lifelong illness. I try to control it and stay alert, but I wouldn't vouch for myself," he remarks.
The preference for online or in-person gambling has a generational component. The population between 18 and 45 primarily accesses through the internet, while from the age of 46 onwards, in-person gambling becomes the favorite. Gender is also a distinctive factor: around 80% of online players are men, a percentage that drops to 52% for those who bet in physical locations.
The digitalization of the younger population is one of the arguments put forth by the majority association of online gambling, JDigital, in a statement released after the study's publication, to explain this trend. They also believe that the "greater visibility of symptoms of possible problems related to gambling responds to increased awareness among the younger population of aspects related to mental health."
In an effort to reduce gambling addiction, the Council of Ministers approved a royal decree in November 2020 regulating the advertising of betting houses. The regulation prohibits sports sponsorships and the appearance of famous individuals, relegating advertisements to the early morning hours, between one and five.
The legislation passed in 2020 specified articles 7 and 8 of the Gambling Regulation Law of 2011. This Wednesday, the General Directorate of Gambling Regulation, under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, shut down 14 websites and imposed fines totaling more than 71 million euros.