Kurt Dahl, a Minnesotan who resides primarily in Washington state, has self-published a new book called “The New Millennium 5 Step Program: A powerful guide to living a gambling-free life.” The book re-examines the traditional 12-step Gamblers Anonymous (GA) program and offers an alternative. He continues to support individual’s participation in GA meetings, but believes the 12-step program, originally designed in the 1930s, needs a more updated approach.
Some of you may have read Kurt’s first book, “Gambling Addiction,” in which he writes about the prevalence of suicide among gamblers. Kurt is in long-term recovery and is an alumnus of the Vanguard Center for Gambling Recovery, which he credits for saving his life.
Kurt advocated for these five steps:
Get ready, get set
Go all in
Take care of yourself
Recovery is forever
Pay it forward
As times change, it’s important that approaches to helping those with gambling addiction be evaluated to make sure they are current and applicable. Our last edition of Northern Light (Fall 2023) noted that the GA Blue Book underwent a significant revision, acknowledging that the book wasn’t as relevant as it could be. Members were seeking an updated guide that would facilitate meetings, work with sponsors, provide clarity on the process and help any reader better understand the program.
Note that MNAPG does not endorse any particular path to recovery. Individuals need to find what works best for them and, if it keeps them out of harm’s way, stick with it.
By the time a person suffering from a gambling addiction seeks professional help, they are often in dire straits. In addition to the emotional turmoil that causes some to feel suicidal and the path of destruction in personal relationships that often follows in their wake, there is also a very practical matter: most gambling addicts have spent their last penny.
While gambling counselors are equipped to help individuals manage their addiction, seek more healing ways and eventually start on the road to recovery, few have an in-depth knowledge of how the gambler can clean up from financial ruin. At best, counselors may have a few worksheets on basic budgeting that they can give to their clients, but they don’t have the range of tools that financial professionals can provide.
Recognizing that the lack of financial counseling represents a significant gap in treatment for many clients, MNAPG has dedicated resources for GamFin, an online financial education community for professionals in problem gambling, so that financial counselors can meet with individuals on an as-needed basis. The service is a boon to counselors — it represents an added and important service they can offer to their clients — and can provide an important anchor leg for those in recovery.
“When I heard that we could bring in a financial specialist to talk to our clients in a group session, I was thrilled,” says Amy Dady, a problem gambling counselor with Fairview Health Services. “It gives people a chance to ask about anything, such as budgeting, current financing, FICO scores, paying down debt, bankruptcy and future planning.”
Clients who want to ask specific questions can meet privately with the financial specialist — at no cost. “When clients know they can talk to the specialists for free, they open up and realize what an issue it is for them,” says Amy.
Access to financial counseling has received positive feedback. “I’m so delighted that my clients can go to them for counseling,” says Amy. “So much of the struggle and stress patients have is around the financial part. It’s great that we can provide these added benefits and that they don’t have to pay for them.”
“The dedication of these financial resources speaks to our larger effort to wanting to provide the best services to our stakeholders, in this case our counselors,” says Susan Sheridan Tucker, executive director of MNAPG. “Counselors lack financial training, but we feel it’s essential that gamblers have access to financial literacy services that can help them in their recovery. When counselors work in concert with the financial advisor, it’s a more comprehensive approach to a person’s overall recovery.”
The key reason data collection is necessary is because many gamblers use multiple operators. Here’s a look at why:
Sports gamblers use multiple operators to get the best odds or to take advantage of frequent bonuses that are multiplied by the number of accounts they have. The graphic above from Oddschecker.com for a first-round NFL playoff game between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay is instructive.
A gambler shopping around will notice several gaps in the odds and promotional opportunities:
• If you are a Caesars customer and you want to bet on the Eagles to win, you would have to risk $160 to win $100 based on the -160 odds. However, by just taking a minute to open a DraftKings account, you would only have to risk $148 to win the same $100 due to the better odds of -148, a potential loss savings of $12 on a single bet.
• A DraftKings customer who wants to bet on the Buccaneers would win only $124 on a $100 wager, compared to winning $135 if they wager on Caesars.
• Finally, by signing up for the seven sportsbooks listed in the graphic (some states have 20 or more operators) there are over $3,000 in bonuses available to the gambler (see sign-up offers as noted at top of the image).
These differences in odds add up to a lot over time, and for someone struggling with their gambling, they may make much larger bets spread out over a dozen or more accounts, with each operator thinking they are only dealing with a recreational customer due to the lack of data visibility of the volume and frequency of their bets.
Adina Black joined MNPGA in December as program manager. In her role, Adina will work to mobilize communities to become more educated about gambling addiction and to understand how to help people access resources. Adina is excited about this opportunity and plans to draw from her creativity and skill in strategizing. “I look to develop a vision for the community about how we can meet the needs of problem gamblers,” says Adina.
Adina has considerable experience in community engagement. She previously worked at the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute, where she worked with community organizations to help them focus on their priorities and to advance the well-being of communities. Her efforts involved developing networks and coalitions around community issues, with an emphasis on developing collaborative partnerships.
In her first weeks at MNPGA, Adina has quickly gained an appreciation for the issue of problem gambling. “Learning how much it’s associated with substance use and other addictions but not receiving a proportionate amount of funding represents a challenge,” says Adina. “It seems like problem gambling has taken a back seat and not received the recognition it deserves.”
Adina has also learned about the way problem gambling has been viewed in different communities. “From my perspective as a Black woman, I think about the different kinds of behaviors that have been normalized in the Black community that I now recognize as people struggling with gambling issues. It’s been an eye-opener.”
We look forward to the impact Adina will make. Welcome to MNAPG, Adina!
As states and gambling operators grapple with how to best identify gamblers exhibiting possible problem gambling behavior, the need to gather comprehensive, consolidated and anonymous gambler data is becoming increasingly apparent. This is particularly important because an individual’s gambling activity may be spread across a number of platforms and operators (see page 3), making it essentially impossible for an individual operator to obtain a snapshot of a gambler’s total spending.
ID Pair, a New Jersey-based organization whose mission is to create responsible gambling solutions for operators, state regulators and others, is developing tools to analyze the entirety of a gambler’s activity, providing a better opportunity for intervention.
“The task of a sports book is to make sure customers are behaving in sustainable ways,” says Jonathan Aiwazian, CEO and founder of ID Pair. “But how can they do that if they only see a fraction of the data?”
ID Pair performs two fundamental tasks. First, it anonymizes gambler data as it amasses it across gambling operators. Secondly, it runs an analysis on the “single view” of a gambler to identify high-risk behavior, thus allowing operators to send appropriate cautionary communications and reminders to the player.
“Ultimately, it’s a customer’s decision whether to embrace or ignore messages about high-risk behavior, but at least the operator can step in with actions that emphasize long-term health and sustainability,” says Jonathan, who previously worked for several operators and observed that they were limited in what they could see — hence the need for a system to bridge the gap in data from one operator to another.
Jonathan notes that operators have historically been protective of customer data and apprehensive about sharing it. However, he thinks that attitude is thawing in light of the need to cultivate a sustainable customer base. “I think that operators are seeing that it’s actually good for the industry and gives them a way to work together,” says Jonathan.
Europe, which traditionally has been years ahead of the U.S. when it comes to building tools to identify problem gamblers, has imposed regulations to ensure that operators work together. It may be that U.S. gambling operators can avoid the need for heavy regulation if they begin working together.
ID Pair works directly with regulators or operators, depending on the state and where the interest in strengthening consumer protections comes from. “It’s most beneficial when there’s legislative support so that regulators can create rules rather than start from scratch,” says Jonathan. “In states where there’s more backing, there’s more opportunity to do more with advancing responsible gambling.”
As Minnesota continues to consider legalizing sports gambling — along with casino gambling already in place — it’s an opportunity to establish a structure early on. “States just beginning to legalize more aspects of gambling have an early opportunity to create data that will help them understand how legalization is changing behavior, and ultimately inform future policy,” says Jonathan. “Without data, there is no visibility. If states creative incentives for operators to share information, it’s better for everyone in the end.”
For its efforts to promote responsible gambling, ID Pair received the Play Well Award from the Responsible Gambling Council and Flutter Entertainment, FanDuel’s parent company.
