A college student’s battles against gambling addiction

When Robert's mother picked him up from college, she hardly recognized her son. He had lost twenty pounds. His hair was untidy, and his beard was unkempt.

In the fall of 2023, he enrolled as an honors student at the University of Cincinnati, where he focused on his studies, tennis, and his goal of becoming an engineer. His parents warned him about drugs, alcohol, and crazy parties, but they weren't really concerned.

The strange activity on their bank accounts then began to accumulate. The justifications also did. He squandered the rent money his parents gave him, dropped out of the remaining classes, and failed a few. Even though the Spring 2025 finals were just three weeks away, he was unable to stay.

Robert said, "Mom, I'm glad you got me," as they drove home. She was at a loss for words. As a pediatrician, she has spent years treating children's illnesses. But the 20-year-old gambling addict seated next to her had no idea how to be helped.

Experts believe they are witnessing more examples like Robert's—vulnerable young adults who become addicted and parents who find it difficult to support them—as gambling becomes more and more embedded in United States culture. When Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby acknowledged that he had wagered on sports in high school and college, developed a gambling addiction, and sought rehab, it became one of the biggest stories in sports.

It's unclear how many college-age individuals suffer from gambling addictions, but research indicates that young people are finding methods to gamble in spite of age limits, colleges are struggling to keep up, and legislators are trying to find solutions.

Video games, social media, TV commercials, and occasionally even their own parents introduce kids to gambling years before they reach eighteen. More than one-third of 11 to 17-year-olds reported having gambled in some capacity in the previous year, with one in eight placing a wager on sports, according to a 2025 nationwide study conducted by Common Sense Media.

College students stated that they were aware of their school's gambling culture as soon as they arrived on campus and that betting is a normal part of daily life. According to a 2023 NCAA study, two-thirds of males and 51% of women aged 18 to 22 had placed a wager on sports. According to an SMU senior, it was between 90 and 95 percent among his fraternity members. The NCAA discovered that most students wager seldom and in little sums, and that students who reside on campus tend to wager more frequently than those who do not.

According to the NCAA poll, students discovered a variety of ways to gambling despite age restrictions in several jurisdictions, including sportsbook applications, daily fantasy websites, casinos, racetracks, offshore sportsbooks, and bookies. Another choice is prediction markets, which have become incredibly popular over the last two years.

According to the NCAA poll, 16% of students wager with bookies, who frequently extend credit and ignore a bettor's age. Most fraternities have bookmakers, according to an expert in the underground bookmaking industry. Frequently, parents are unaware that their children are gambling until they have accrued debt and harmed their emotional well-being.

While proposed legislation in Connecticut would mandate that public institutions offer an on-campus problem gambling treatment at least once during an academic year, New York lawmakers are considering regulating sportsbooks to employ geolocation to ban bets placed from college campuses.

Because he doesn't want the stigma associated with his addiction to hinder his ability to obtain work, Robert asked not to use his real name. Additionally, he and his family refused to disclose the precise numbers of his gambling losses because they would be upsetting to others. According to his father, they don't want people to think, "Oh, I wasn't as bad," after comparing their sums to Robert's.

Robert's only experience with gambling before college was creating a March Madness bracket. During his freshman year, he was studying in the common area one evening when someone asked if he wanted to play poker. The roommate brought chips and a table of his own. The roommate promised to teach Robert how to play since he had never done so before.

A dozen or so underclassmen sat down at the poker table. Robert claimed that there were games with huge stakes on almost every other floor in his residence hall. He enjoyed the mathematical aspects of poker and how strategy and statistics contributed to his victories.

The roommate who first introduced him to poker ended up working as a dealer at a nearby club, where most states have an 18-year-old legal age. Eventually, the dealer allowed Robert and a few of his new pals to participate in a low-stakes tournament. There were about ten poker tables, a pool table, a lounge, and friendly patrons at the smoke-free club. It remained open till four in the morning.

Robert held his own for a novice, using money from his part-time data science job to pay for his gambling. He was balancing work, school, and late nights at the club by the spring semester of 2024. When he went to a casino in the Bahamas with some pals that summer, he discovered a whole new realm of gambling: sports betting. "I just kept winning there," he remarked. "I made a lot of money that I had to declare to customs."

All of a sudden, the bookish young man who lived mostly in the dorm was everywhere, leading an extravagant life. Concerts. Athletic events. Companions. The sophomore year was expected to be much better. He would live in an apartment with some poker-related buddies. He would be able to purchase a car for himself if he won.

Gambling was more than just a means of gaining popularity. He used betting as a distraction after failing calculus his first semester. It could be challenging at school. It seemed simple to gamble.

Robert claimed that four of the five residents in his new apartment were gamblers, and they hosted parties that stretched into the morning and poker nights that evolved into blackjack. Robert occasionally drove across the border to Kentucky, where the legal betting age was eighteen at the time, because he was too young to gamble in Ohio. He approached his wagers with a businesslike demeanor. He created spreadsheets that broke down players and games.

His parents discovered unauthorized activity on their bank accounts and credit cards by November, when he was regularly losing. He began gambling with the rent money they handed him. His parents didn't deal with his behavior, his declining grades, or the missing money until winter break in 2024. Robert sobbed and informed them about the wagering. He vowed to never gamble once more. His parents made the decision to pay his rent directly and keep a careful eye on his money. He was sent back to school.

Robert would claim that all he wanted was to recoup the money he had lost to the family. He wanted to wager more because of the guilt. This is referred to as "chasing losses" in gambling jargon, and experts claim that the pursuit is frequently an indication of addiction.

He grabbed the family minivan and drove more than an hour to the Kentucky border after sneaking out in the middle of the night three months after returning from college. At the first exit, he paused, tapped his phone, and placed a big bet on the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the NBA championship. His folks were still asleep when he got home early the following morning.

Because the symptoms aren't often obvious, addiction specialists refer to gambling disease as a hidden addiction. It's more difficult to identify and, for some, to accept as a disease rather than a moral shortcoming.

Robert said that his recovery didn't really begin until January, when he spent 28 days in a treatment center. He received individual therapy twice a day in addition to group therapy. He ate wholesome food, enjoyed the outdoors, and concentrated on his physical and mental well-being.

He followed a stringent rule: no phones. He didn't receive any notifications, scores, or other incentives to gamble for four weeks.

Additionally, Robert began going to meetings with other young problem gamblers, which were led by a former lawyer and gambling addict. He discovered a sense of camaraderie and connection with them that he had not before experienced.

Robert's parents can't help but think back to three summers ago, when they were preparing their son for college, as students return to class. They spent the summer gathering everything he needed for his dorm. They saw it as the next phase of an infinitely promising future.

They were reluctant to bring him home even after more than a year had passed, despite their gut telling them that he no longer belonged there.

They chastised themselves for not getting Robert out of school sooner when he eventually arrived home. Would the recovery have been faster and the spiral shorter? Would he be nearer to his aspirations?

According to a 2026 National Council on Problem Gambling survey, one in three young persons had wagered on sports before reaching 21. Young adults are two to four times more likely than those over 25 to develop gambling disorders, according to studies. Up until the mid-20s, the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is in charge of judgment and risk assessment, is still developing.

Youth are at a disadvantage because their brains aren't developed in that area yet, according to Dr. Allen Miller, executive director of the Beck Institute and a cognitive behavioral therapist.

Counselors investigated some of the potential underlying causes of Robert's gambling addiction during his recovery. Robert's neurodivergence may have contributed to his tendency to obsess over things and struggle with letting go, according to his father. When he lost, he was unable to let go. Additionally, they believed that once he and his parents relocated across Ohio when he was in junior high, he might have gotten more cut off from his social circle.

Robert is making an effort to move on with his family. At a smaller institution, he is completing his degree. His final bet was on the Thunder to win the NBA championship, which he lost in December. However, success can be precarious because gambling addiction frequently results in relapses.

Robert first discussed his story in public at a problem gambling conference. He appeared to be a young tech expert, dressed in jeans, a button-down shirt, and a sport jacket. Like the person he imagined himself to be three years ago when he started college.

By sharing their experience, Robert and his parents hope that other families won't have to go through what they did.

Robert used to unwind in front of the TV with his family while watching tennis, football, or the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, in retrospect, they recall Robert's constant use of his phone. Robert's viewing is now restricted, but they continue to see advertisements for sports betting. They hit the mute button.

Source:

“ 'We are broken': One family's fight against gambling addiction” , Elizabeth Merrill and David Purdum, ESPN.com, August 28, 2026.