Quadrupling of figure in two years branded ‘generational scandal’ and blamed on TV ads and smartphone apps The UK’s Gambling Commission audit found that more children said they had placed a bet in the past week than drank alcohol, smoked or taken drugs. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/21/number-of-problem-gamblers-aged-11-16-rises-to-55000?fbclid=IwAR0exDkoFp2S33B9__Fg4OEwAm7Mk2q7y3eec_UdeP2sDyWyCV_1fk2E0po

In a history-making referendum, an Illinois community that introduced video gambling reversed that policy through a binding ballot question. Voters in Forest Park, Illinois shut down video gambling machines in their community. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/forest-park-votes-to-ban-video-gambling-in-history-making-referendum/ar-BBPrRyZ?fbclid=IwAR0t06xxZkosAR8eqxz4QvHDHyMHM2VkOXf-izYXTiro5K1bbgpEOyFaYfQ    

Esport betting platform gets license for video game gambling: " In America, skill-based betting will go live in 41 states as part of Unikrn's product rollout, although a date for the U.S. unveiling hasn't been made public. Odds betting will not yet be available in the U.S." https://www.denverpost.com/2018/10/28/unikrn-esports-video-game-gambling/

The New Mexico Lottery Authority is moving ahead with plans for a new game that will be tied to the outcome of sporting events. The lottery board voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of the new game, which could go on sale in four to six months. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the move is the first by a state government to cash in on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that struck down a federal law that...

So why did prizes skyrocket? Progressive jackpot games and multi-state lotteries such as Mega Millions have their roots in the particular economic and cultural circumstances of the 1980s. As rising inequality fueled a spike in luxurious lifestyles amid an economic downturn, hopeful gamblers, eager to enter the exclusive world of the wealthy, turned to the unprecedented prizes offered by rollover jackpot games. Over time, state lottery commissions have catered to gamblers’ appetite for rising jackpots, offering ever-increasing prizes that promise...

The average American spends $207 annually on tickets. The only trouble with investing that kind of dough in lottery tickets is that the odds are definitely not in your favor. Indeed, you're 300 times more likely to get struck by lightning in any given year than win a multimillion-dollar jackpot in the Mega Millions or Power Ball contest -- no matter how frequently you play.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/buying-lottery-tickets-will-never-make-you-rich/

Americans are on a collision course to lose more than $1 trillion to govt-sanctioned gambling over the next 8 years." Meanwhile, 20% of Americans have zero or negative net wealth: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/one-in-five-american-households-have-zero-or-negative-wealth-2017-11-11?fbclid=IwAR3qRu6e9n3IKKtGXjgKDC65t7sZ0dwcBd41p2ekDgXinwvg26B4OejZ9z8  

Americans are expected to lose $118 billion of their personal wealth to government-sanctioned gambling in 2018. Many of these citizens suffered life-changing financial losses. https://www.stoppredatorygambling.org/take-a-break-from-ga…/

Some lottery players around Virginia are racking up massive winnings. Are others being cheated? Take the biggest winner in Hampton, for example. He has cashed roughly 140 lottery tickets worth at least $600 each, adding up to more than $400,000 in winnings, according to state lottery claims data. He also has happened to win most often – 23 times, according to state records – at a Newport News store he owns. https://pilotonline.com/news/government/virginia/article_f11334a2-9bd5-11e8-a357-537ba38422c5.html  

The UK embraced online gambling in 2005 - here's a glimpse of the devastation online gambling will have here in the US.  A report recently released in the UK shows that there is an urgent need for action. The online gambling industry is an industry that makes more than half of its profits from those at risk and problem gamblers and is itself addicted to addiction – needing to generate more addiction to generate more profits. https://www.respublica.org.uk/our-work/publications/online-gambling-addicted-to-addiction/