Sports betting is booming ahead of the World Cup—here’s how to avoid trouble

“Treat sports betting and gambling as you would for any recreational activity,” said Andrew Kim, associate psychology professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and a Tier II Canada Research Chair in addictions and mental health comorbidity. “Don’t think of (it) as a way to make money; set aside the amount of money that you’d be comfortable losing and don’t go over that budget,” he said. For instance, it could mean a limit of $100 per month and being comfortable with losing it.

Setting up guardrails on gambling

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction has laid out guardrails for people curious about betting, Kim said. One guideline is not to spend more than 1% of your annual household income on betting.

“For young adults though, that annual household income is going to be a bit lower,” he said. For someone with an annual income of $30,000, the organization recommends not gambling more than $25 a month. It also suggests not betting more than four days a month and limiting the types of gambling activities you engage in, Kim said. 

Sarah McCarthy, CEO of the Responsible Gambling Council, said it’s really important for people to decide what they can afford to lose before the event begins. The council is a gambling-neutral harm reduction agency which focuses on preventive measures. It also offers advisory services to businesses and industry stakeholders.

Many sports betting apps have built-in safety provisions, such as setting up spending limits or restricting time spent on the app, which McCarthy said should be done in advance. The goal is to stop you from overspending or betting impulsively when emotions are running high during a game. 

McCarthy also cautioned people against betting when upset, stressed, drinking, or using substances. “As we all know, emotions and substances affect our judgment, and so if you are going through a tough time, gambling is definitely not what you want to be doing then,” she said.

For those in Ontario, where her council is based, McCarthy recommended using licensed e-sports apps that have a commercial operating agreement with Ontario iGaming and are registered with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. That warrants gaming sites and apps to meet player protection standards, compared with those that are unlicensed, she said.

Never chase gambling losses

More importantly, McCarthy said, don’t chase the losses. “If you have lost what you have budgeted, just stop,” she said. “Trying to win it back almost always makes things much worse.”

Some types of sports betting can also be riskier than others, she said. For instance, parlay betting, which combines multiple wagers into a single bet, can be a win-all or lose-all situation. “While the payouts can be much higher than other bets, the probability of winning drops significantly with each added piece,” McCarthy said. “Although they can seem quite appealing, it’s very unlikely that players are going to win.”

Live in-play bets are in the same high-risk realm because they encourage people to spend impulsively during the game, she said. These micro-decisions add up and can make you lose track of money spent—and increase risk of going over budget.

Experts say gamblers also need to be wary of the illusion of control, especially among those who are avid sports fans and believe they know the ins and outs of the sport. “When we look at the data, the majority of the people actually lose,” Kim said. “There’s only a small proportion of people who make money betting on sports.”

How to know if gambling is becoming addictive

It’s also easy to forego guardrails in the heat of the moment. And the signs of slipping closer to addiction are often subtle. It might start with spending more time on the betting app than you planned, checking the app first thing in the morning, or feeling a need to chase losses—which can continue to spiral out of control.

Kim said a strong indication is preoccupation. “You’re spending a lot of time either sports betting or thinking about sports betting,” Kim said. That could mean you’re putting more time into researching the odds, player statistics, head-to-head competition, or just planning what to bet on next.

If you’re having difficulty keeping to your self-imposed limits, that’s another red flag that you need to step away from it, Kim said. Or if you can’t cover your regular living expenses, those also amount to troubling signs. 

Financial hardship is one of the most common negative consequences of sports betting if it gets out of hand, Kim said. But there’s help available to those who need it, both self-help and professional tools.

“Delete the apps, take a break, and then revisit your relationship with sports betting,” Kim said. “If this is something you feel you can get back into, do it at safe levels. For some people, they can, and for (other) people, they can’t.”