Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling president: ‘The year has been very busy’

With sports gambling becoming legal in Kentucky in 2023, the anticipation was that while the new law would raise more tax revenue for the state, it would also bring more cases of problem gambling.

Dr. RonSonlyn Clark is president of the Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling , which was established 27 years ago to help promote prevention activities, awareness and education for people with gambling issues.

A retired senior director of substance use and prevention at RiverValley Behavioral Health in Owensboro, Dr. Clark has counseled people with gambling problems for over 20 years.

She recently answered questions about her views on the first year of legalized sports gambling in the state.

Question: How do you think the first year has gone from your perspective?

Dr. Clark: The year has been very busy. From my perspective, I have been busy training and supervising individuals across the state in pursuit of their certification to do gambling counseling.

In January, we had a 30-hour training. It’s the first time we’ve done that. And we had ... 20 something people that went through the training, and I have in various stages of getting people certified, I’m counting my fingers, so bear with me. I think I’ve got seven people undergoing supervision with me at this point, and out of that supervision to have already passed their exam and are Level 1 certified and continue to work toward Level 2.

Q: Is this because of the demand of people looking for help?

Dr. Clark: Yes, I feel like it is. I also have a small practice where I see gamblers, and if I look back over the past year, I had one from a different form of gambling, but everybody else has been, sports gambling really greatly increased.

Q: Has it increased more than you expected?

Dr. Clark: The numbers are not huge, but percentage-wise it’s been way more than I expected. Really, I think we’re going to see more. I’m here in Owensboro, and with us getting a historical horse racing facility in our county, I’m waiting to see that increase. I’ve been keeping an eye on it because I do supervision for Indiana and its problem gambling counselor program. I’ve been keeping an eye on what has happened with Terre Haute since they opened their casino, and watching the increase in what my counselors are getting there and anticipating that increase here.

Q: The statistics suggest that a significant number of people participating in sports gambling are young males. Is that what you are seeing?

Dr. Clark. All of my sports gamblers are probably under the age of 40, really, and as young as 18. I don’t see any younger than 18, but I’m thinking about over the last year, in a normal year, probably would see over the course of the year, six or so clients in the year. Right now, I’m approaching 20. One was a lottery gambler, and that was an older, much (older) gentleman. Everybody else has been sports and under 40, at least a three-fold increase.

Q: There is some thought that part of the increase in the number of people reaching out for help with sports gambling problems is because more publicity is given for ways to get help. Do you think that’s a valid point?

Dr. Clark: I don’t see that in my practice. I’m a football fan. Watching the Colts game on Sunday, and they had a commercial for one of the sportsbooks. I don’t remember, DraftKings. I don’t remember for sure, and down at the bottom of the screen, it was actually larger print than I’ve seen before. Very quickly, shows the 1-800 gambler hotline number.

Nobody has told me they have come from seeing something advertised that way. People have come through the 1-800 hotline, which is answered here at RiverValley in Owensboro. They’re not seeing it on a website to call for help. If they’re seeing it, that’s not where they’re telling me they’re coming from. Some have been word of mouth. We’ve done a lot of publicity with the Kentucky Council. We’ve been much more visible. You know, we were inundated last year with TV interviews and newspaper interviews, but, yeah, I’m seeing a whole lot more from the just calling (our) hotline.

Q: If someone thinks they may have a gambling problem, what advice would you give them?

Dr. Clark: I tell them to call me personally, really, and let’s talk to them. We don’t really have a lot of counselors across the state that know enough about gambling, and I know where the counselors are that can help them, and somebody in their home area if need be. I’ve been doing a lot of telehealth with people from all over the state. I did that earlier in the past year. Now I’m trying to kind of pass them out to some other people.

Call the 800 gambler hotline. We train those people. We at the Kentucky Council, train those people so they know what they’re doing. If you (want to be) a counselor, contact the Kentucky Council. We can get you hooked up with getting you on a path to getting certified. It’s not terribly hard.

It takes some time, but I love working with gamblers, really, and I’ve done substance abuse (counseling) for the past 34 years, and gambling for the past 20 and I almost exclusively now deal with gamblers. We’ve got gambling groups that I’m doing here, and then one of my newly certified counselors is doing some really good work in the Bowling Green area. I have a lady in Eastern Kentucky that has been doing a lot of screening.

So, yeah, we’re increasing our services, and we’re going to have to keep increasing, you know, now there’s sportsbooks all over the place. We’ve got historical horse racing coming, where you can access sportsbooks. They’re rampant.

Q: The people that you see, are they people who gambled before and it’s just gotten worse? Are they people who’ve never gambled before, but with the legalization of sports gambling decided to try it and it has gotten out of control?

Dr. Clark: The majority of it is, “I’ve gambled all along.” It is easier now to get it, much easier now, that’s for sure.

I had an interesting gentleman from another location than where I am. I’ll just leave it that way, in Kentucky, who was gambling on a sport other than basketball, football or baseball. It was a sport that moved much faster than the other sports.

Q: What else should the public know about sports gambling problems and addiction?

Dr. Clark: Well, this isn’t specific to sports gambling, but it does include it, because I don’t miss a chance to try to talk about this. Gambling addiction is the highest rate of suicide of any mental health disorder. Really, one in five gamblers, addicted gamblers, will attempt to complete suicide. That’s 20%. They reach that desperation stage, hopeless desperation stage, and that is what they see as a way out.

How has the first year of legal sports gambling in Kentucky gone? It’s a winning bet.

How Kentucky’s first-year sports gambling statistics stack up against other states

Drawing the line between sports gambling and college athletics has not been easy

How has sports gambling in Kentucky affected horse racing? So far, so good.