How Prediction Markets, Sports Betting Apps, and Crypto Gambling Are Fueling America's Hidden Addiction Crisis
In 2025, more than $3.3 million was wagered on a single question: "Will Jesus Christ Return in 2025?"
This was a real market, with real money at stake. People placed wagers through Polymarket, one of the world’s largest prediction market platforms.
When January 1, 2026 passed without Jesus appearing, those who bet “No” collected their winnings, earning returns that rivaled many traditional low risk investments. The same question has since been relisted for 2027, and bets are already being placed.
What matters is not the subject of the bet, but what it represents. We have reached a point where people can wager money on almost anything, from elections and financial markets to how often a billionaire posts on social media. When nearly every outcome can be turned into a bet, gambling quietly becomes part of everyday life.
For millions of people, that shift carries real consequences.
The Explosion No One Saw Coming
In 2018, Americans legally wagered approximately $6.6 billion on sports. By 2024, that number rose to $148.7 billion. In less than seven years, legal sports betting has grown by a factor of almost thirty.
That figure doesn’t include offshore betting sites, crypto casinos, prediction markets, or the countless informal bets placed between friends and coworkers. About 22% of all Americans now report having at least one online sportsbook account. Among men aged 18 to 49, that number is 48%.
Ninety percent of all bets are now placed on phones rather than at casinos or racetracks. Many of these are live bets placed while games are in progress. Beyond predicting who wins, bettors can wager on specific outcomes during the game, which increases the speed and frequency of opportunities to gamble.
The human cost is becoming harder to ignore. Research suggests that between six and ten percent of regular sports bettors may meet criteria for gambling disorder. And an estimated one in five people with a gambling disorder will attempt suicide. This is a higher rate than with other substance use disorders.
What I've Witnessed: Then and Now
I founded Algamus in 1992, in my own home in Florida. As a recovering compulsive gambler myself, I started renting out spare rooms to men I met at GA meetings. Over the past 30+ years, I've worked with thousands of people fighting to reclaim their lives from gambling addiction.
What I see today is fundamentally different from what I saw even a decade ago.
Back then, most of the people who came to us were casino gamblers or sports bettors who had to physically go somewhere to gamble. There were natural breaks built into the behavior. You had to get in your car. You had to leave the house. And sometimes, that pause was enough to stop someone from going too far.
Today, many of the individuals we treat have never stepped foot in a casino. They’ve lost significant amounts of money gambling on their phones, often alone and late at night, long before anyone around them realizes how serious the problem has become.
The speed of escalation is what’s different. People are getting into serious trouble much faster than they used to. That’s because there are no natural stopping points, only an endless stream of opportunities to place one more bet.
When Everything Becomes a Bet
The ways people can gamble continue to expand. Sports betting, prediction markets, cryptocurrency platforms, and traditional wagering now offer a nearly endless set of opportunities to put money at risk.
Polymarket, which was barred from operating in the United States following a 2022 settlement with federal regulators, has now returned. Through the acquisition of a CFTC-licensed exchange, the platform relaunched in late 2025. Its competitor, Kalshi, has been offering event contracts, including sports betting, nationwide since January 2025.
These platforms don't call it gambling. They call it "trading" or "prediction markets" or "event contracts." That framing matters. When people believe they are trading or predicting rather than gambling, they often feel more skilled and more in control.
But the brain doesn’t care what you call it. Whether someone thinks they’re trading, predicting, or betting, the dopamine response is the same. The risk is the same. And the consequences can be the same.
Many of these platforms also lack the consumer protections that even traditional sportsbooks provide, such as deposit limits, cooling off periods, or meaningful self exclusion tools.
The insider trading problem adds another layer of concern. Prediction markets create powerful financial incentives for people with access to sensitive information. This didn't exist when betting was confined to casinos and sportsbooks.
A Generation at Risk
If you want to understand who is being harmed most by this expansion of gambling access, look at young men. A 2023 NCAA survey found that 58% of 18- to 22-year-olds were involved in at least one sports betting activity.
Among students living on campus, 67% reported betting, often with high frequency. Forty-one percent of college student bettors placed wagers on their own school's teams. Thirty-five percent used student bookmakers.
One analysis indicated that 10% of college students could be classified with a gambling disorder, significantly exceeding the estimated 2-5% prevalence in the general U.S. population.
Perhaps the most alarming statistic is that 90% of online sports bettors aged 18-34 believe they can reliably make money betting on sports. This is up from 82% just one year earlier.
Some public health researchers have compared the current state of the sports gambling industry to cigarette marketing in the 1940s, a comparison driven by the wave of advertising featuring popular celebrities, athletes, and influencers. These types of endorsements make gambling seem glamorous and risk-free.
Because a person's brain doesn't fully develop until their mid-20s, young people are especially vulnerable to gambling’s reinforcing effects. Teenagers who gamble are up to four times more likely to develop a gambling problem later in life than teens who don't gamble.
At Algamus, we have seen the average age of the people we treat decline. We are seeing more college students and young adults whose gambling began with sports betting.
What concerns me most is how normalized this feels to them. Betting is embedded in the sports they already watch and the apps they already use. By the time they recognize there is a problem, significant damage has already occurred.
Regulatory Gaps and Consumer Protections
As gambling platforms expand, consumer protections remain inconsistent.
In some jurisdictions, state regulators are pushing back on the laws. In just the first three weeks of 2026, Tennessee and Connecticut issued cease-and-desist orders against prediction market platforms for offering sports-related contracts without gaming licenses. Nevada's gaming regulator has also sued Polymarket.
The platforms argue they're not gambling. They're "derivatives exchanges" where participants "trade" on outcomes.
Courts have produced conflicting rulings. A federal judge in Nevada ruled that state gaming regulators can seek to stop Kalshi from offering sports contracts. A federal judge in New Jersey ruled the opposite.
While legal definitions are debated, the platforms continue to grow. Weekly wagers on prediction markets surpassed $2 billion in late 2025. Whether labeled gambling or trading, people are losing money, stability, and in some cases their lives.
What Needs to Change
The gambling industry, including sports betting operators, prediction markets, and crypto casinos, generated record revenues in 2025. The commercial gaming industry alone hit $66.52 billion in combined revenue, a 10% jump from the previous year's record.
Yet in many states gambling addiction services remain underfunded, and organizations like the National Council on Problem Gambling receive no dedicated federal funding.
Here's what would make a difference:
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Mandatory funding for treatment - A percentage of all gambling revenue, from sportsbooks, prediction markets, and casinos alike, should be dedicated to gambling addiction services. Those who profit from gambling have an ethical imperative to help those who are harmed by it.
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Consistent consumer protections - Whether it's called gambling, trading, or event contracts, platforms that allow people to wager money on outcomes should be required to offer deposit limits, cooling-off periods, self-exclusion programs, and connection to help resources.
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Advertising restrictions - Just as we eventually restricted cigarette advertising, we should restrict gambling advertising, particularly advertising that targets young people or features celebrities and athletes.
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Education and screening - Healthcare providers, educators, and parents need to understand that gambling addiction is a clinical disorder that requires the same urgency as substance use disorders. Screening for gambling problems should become routine in healthcare settings.
What gives me hope is that recovery works. I’ve seen it thousands of times. Gambling addiction may be powerful, but it’s treatable. Especially when people get help early.
If there’s one message I’d share with families, it’s this: don’t wait. If something feels off, trust that instinct. This addiction thrives in silence, but it loses power when people reach out.
The Choice Before Us
We now live in a world where nearly anything can become a wager, and where the wager is always one tap away. For most people, this is fine. They'll place a few bets, win some, lose some, and move on. But for millions of Americans, it will cause lasting harm.
Gambling addiction is often called the hidden addiction because the damage isn’t always visible. But the consequences are real, and they’re preventable.
If you or someone you love is struggling, help is available. Recovery is possible. The financial damage can be repaired. Relationships can heal. You don’t have to wait for things to get worse. Support exists today.
The National Problem Gambling Helpline (1-800-522-4700) is free, confidential, and available 24/7. At Algamus, we also offer residential treatment to help people recover in a safe, structured environment. We’ve been exclusively treating gambling addiction for over 30 years. Call us today for more information.
Resources
National Problem Gambling Helpline: 1-800-522-4700 (call, text, or chat)
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988
Gamblers Anonymous: gamblersanonymous.org
Gam-Anon (for family members): gam-anon.org
Algamus Gambling Treatment Services: algamus.org | 888-558-7024