SBC Americas

States highlight own problem gambling services amid 1-800-GAMBLER transition

As the 1-800-GAMBLER problem gambling helpline changes hands as a result of a court order on Monday, state gaming regulators and problem gambling support groups hope to minimize the disruption to services.

A New Jersey judge ruled that the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) must cease using the number or mark as of Sept. 29, leaving it in the exclusive control Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey (CCGNJ), who has owned the number since the 1980s.

A different beast in 2025?

While CCGNJ Executive Director Luis Del Orbe told SBC Americas that the New Jersey council is sure it can pick up where it left off and run the helpline across the U.S., the NCPG maintained in court and in public that it greatly expanded 1-800-GAMBLER over the last three years.

These days, the 1-800-GAMBLER network handles thousands of calls, texts and online messages every month and routes them to 28 contact centers around the country.

Business as usual, say some

While some states like Massach..

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Addabbo adamant that insurance should cover gambling treatment costs

New York is the biggest sports betting market in the U.S. by a considerable margin. More than $16 billion in wagers have been placed on sports in the Empire State since the start of 2025 alone, close to double the total of the next-closest state.

As the market continues to grow in New York, not to mention the continuing efforts to legalize online casino and the plans for more land-based casinos in New York City, a prominent state senator wants to ensure insurance providers step up to the plate.

Sen. Joseph Addabbo filed Senate Bill S8352 this June, a measure that would mandate by law that insurance policies that provide medical or comprehensive coverage also cover outpatient services related to diagnosing and treating problem gambling. Addabbo’s bill would put gambling addiction on the same insurance footing as substance use disorder treatment, such as detoxification and rehabilitation.

“As we expand gaming in New York, whether it be mobile sports betting expansion or even the bigge..

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Government not combating military gambling disorders, says auditor

A new report from the supreme auditor agency for the federal government has warned that not enough is being done to prevent and protect against military members suffering gambling problems.

A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published Sept. 22 provided recommendations for the Department of Defense (DOD) after finding that updated guidance for treating military gambling problems is not being adequately implemented.

The GAO noted that the DOD revised its instructions on substance use to include gambling disorder in January and outlined steps the department and military services should take to help tackle the issue.

However, it determined that the guidance did not properly identify which parties should be responsible for implementing the guidance, leading to a gap between theory and practice.

“The instruction does not identify a party responsible for implementation of certain tasks such as designating staff who will be trained to prevent, assess, diagnose and tr..

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Underdog first US gaming operator to adopt Sportradar’s RG AI tool

Underdog has become the first U.S. gaming operator to sign on to use Bettor Sense, the AI-powered responsible gaming tool offered by Sportradar.

Through a new partnership announced Sept. 24, Underdog will integrate the player protection and well-being program. Bettor Sense, which Sportradar launched in July of this year, identifies high-risk players exhibiting problem gambling behavior. It also offers Underdog users access to care services from evidence-based treatment provider Birches Health.

Sportradar says that this results in a comprehensive approach that meets the industry’s rising expectations of how operators protect their players. The idea is to allow online gaming companies to take a proactive approach to detecting early signs of gambling-related risk and facilitate personalized interventions to protect users.

Bettor Sense allows operators to efficiently monitor players via continuous tracking, real-time risk score checks and clear analysis of player profiles to identify a..

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NJ court orders NCPG to cease using 1-800-GAMBLER helpline

The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) has been ordered by a New Jersey Superior Court judge to stop using the 1-800-GAMBLER phone number and mark anywhere in the U.S. by Sept. 29.

Judge Douglas H. Hurd determined on Mondaythat the non-profit Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey (CCGNJ) has the sole right to run the national problem gambling helpline, as it did from the resource’s initial launch in 1983 until 2022. The CCGNJ licensed it to the NCPG in 2022 in a three-year agreement that expired May 31, 2025.

NCPG tried to extend agreement past original deal terms

The NCPG alleged in court filings that it attempted to activate an option to extend that deal and asserted that the two councils’ contract mandated that the dispute be resolved through arbitration. It filed for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the CCGNJ to prevent the hotline from being shut down until the dispute was resolved in court, and was granted a TRO in July, pending Monday’s hearing.

I..

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Birches Health raises $20m to support gambling addiction treatment

Birches Health received a fresh injection of capital, allowing the behavioral healthcare company to scale infrastructure and secure partnerships nationwide.

The provider of specialized treatment for gambling addiction announced the closing of seed and Series A funding rounds worth a combined $20 million. The rounds both received contributions from global investment firms. Birches Health’s seed funding round was led by General Catalyst and included Will Ventures, California-based VC firm Haystack, and defy.vc. The seed round was closed in 2023. The Series A, closed in August, was led by AlleyCorp with contributions from Birches Health’s exiting investors.

“Gambling addiction is so often seen as a personal failing or a financial issue rather than the behavioral addiction that it is,” said Birches Health board member Dr. Martin Rosenzweig. “Birches has developed a much-needed evidence-based clinical solution with a unique program acuity matched to the needs of the individual in the com..

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UNLV gaming institute names second round of ESPN Research Fellows

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) International Gaming Institute (IGI) has announced the second round of annual ESPN Research Fellows.

ESPN partnered with UNLV in late 2023, signing on as the founding donor of new research leveraging the IGI’s knowledge to develop a program supporting responsible gaming policies and related education and implementation. Last year, the IGI launched the inaugural ESPN Research Fellowship initiative, recognizing educators for their responsible gambling-related projects.

UNLV noted that this year’s group of scholars have put forth proposals aimed at advancing the understanding of responsible gambling messaging in sports media and its implications for consumer well-being.

The class of 2025 consists of:

Dr. Brandon Mastromartino, director of the Institute on Sports Wagering and Gaming and assistant professor of experiential marketing at the L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at San Diego State University. His project wi..

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New Jersey to establish mandatory RG standards for operators

New Jersey’s gaming regulator is ready to up the ante on the player protection measures it requires from its licensed operators.

The NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has published a new set of proposed regulations that would mandate certain responsible gambling measures in the Garden State.

“Our responsible gaming best practices for internet gaming are being turned into regulations,” said the DGE’s Assistant Bureau Chief and Responsible Gaming lead Jamie McKelvey during an iDEA Growth webinar on player protection on Tuesday, Sept. 16. The proposed measures were published in the New Jersey Register this week and are open for public comment until mid-November.

The plan includes requiring each online operator to designate one or more “responsible gaming leads” to identify and monitor at-risk patrons, as well as establishing a hard list of 10 “triggers” for determining problem gambling trends in players and wagering accounts.

The player behavior triggers include things such as ..

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NCAA probe finds 13 former basketball players violated betting rules

The NCAA is poised to take action against another group of men’s college basketball players who are accused of violating the organization’s sports betting rules.

Just one day after levying bans against three former NCAA student-athletes, the governing body of college sports in America is pursuing additional sports betting violations against 13 former men’s basketball players who competed across six institutions:

Arizona State

Eastern Michigan

Mississippi Valley

New Orleans

North Carolina A&T

Temple

The NCAA Committee on Infractions is investigating alleged violations that include student-athletes wagering on or against their own teams, sharing information for gambling with third parties and knowingly manipulating the scoring or outcome of competitions.

An unknown number of the student-athletes also refused to cooperate with the probe.

An updated version of the NCAA guidelines includes punishments for student-athletes who influence the outcome of their own games or provide gam..

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Three former Fresno State basketball players receive NCAA ban for betting

Three men’s college basketball players had their NCAA eligibility permanently revoked on Wednesday following an investigation by the organization into gambling-related infractions.

Three former Fresno State basketball players, Mykell Robinson, Steven Vasquez and Jalen Weaver received permanent bans after the NCAA Committee on Infractions initiated a probe that found the former NCAA student-athletes “manipulated their performances” to win bets with payouts distributed between themselves and third parties.

The infractions took place during the 2024-25 regular season.

NCAA gambling rules prohibit wagering by all players, coaches, and team officials on events sponsored by the organization. Rules also ban betting on professional competition.

The NCAA’s investigation was initiated in February following self-reporting by Fresno State and a sports betting integrity monitoring service about suspicious prop wagers placed on Robinson. The self-reporting by Fresno State came from head men’s ba..

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