{"id":53865,"date":"2026-03-26T23:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T23:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/inundated-gambling-opportunities-grow-faster-than-support-resources-in-colorado\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T18:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:44:18","slug":"inundated-gambling-opportunities-grow-faster-than-support-resources-in-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/inundated-gambling-opportunities-grow-faster-than-support-resources-in-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Inundated\u2019: Gambling opportunities grow faster than support resources in Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"More
More Coloradans are gambling after the legalization of online sports betting as well as the emergence of less regulated digital gambling platforms. (The Associated Press)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The excited tunes of slot machines accompanied by the groans of restless blackjack players no longer define the modern gambling experience. A booming sports betting industry and the emergence of new, unregulated online gambling markets are making this year\u2019s Problem Gambling Awareness Month a unique one in Colorado.<\/p>\n

For the month of March, advocates \u2013 like Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado President Jamie Glick \u2013 went on the road, offering help at a critical time for the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the overall challenge is that we\u2019re just seeing people inundated with opportunities to gamble, both on the regulated market and unregulated markets,\u201d Glick said.<\/p>\n

On March 5-6, Glick and his colleagues began a short tour at Fort Lewis College, training the university\u2019s counseling department to treat gambling addictions and tabling on campus to advertise resources for students.<\/p>\n

\"Problem
Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado Director of Programs Chigbo Nzoiwu helps train the counseling department at Fort Lewis College to address gambling problems on Thursday, March 5. (Photo courtesy of Jamie Glick)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

According to Glick, 6,609 Coloradans reached out to the 1-800-GAMBLER hotline last year for help with gambling addiction. He said the number has increased year after year, and in 2025, it doubled the volume of 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just seeing people being affected younger and younger,\u201d Glick said. \u201cReally from a prevention standpoint, too, we\u2019re trying to connect people sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hotline hears far more from men struggling with gambling problems, often between ages 25 and 44. Athletes and other highly competitive individuals, as well as those with ADHD diagnoses, may be more affected by gambling addiction.<\/p>\n

Unlike other addictions, Glick said, a gambling addiction is easy to hide and harder to treat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an addiction that heavily involves finances, and a lot of therapists and health professionals aren\u2019t trained to talk about finances and talk about money,\u201d Glick said.<\/p>\n

And money \u2013 the key to gambling, win or lose \u2013 is pouring into a multifaceted and nuanced industry.<\/p>\n

An industry with many faces<\/div>\n

Colorado brought a new gambling market to the state six years ago, the effects of which, according to Glick, are still reverberating today.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the largest impacts was just the legalization of sports betting in 2020,\u201d Glick said.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Colorado voters approved legal sports betting, the implementation of which coincided with the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Online sports betting exploded, with more than $25 million wagered by Coloradans in May 2020, the first month the Colorado Department of Revenue began logging data.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still talking to people who started out gambling during COVID, and just now are reaching out for help,\u201d Glick said.<\/p>\n

Even now that people are no longer isolated, gambling revenue continues to climb. In December 2025, the most recent month of data reported by the state, Coloradans wagered more than $618 million on sports bets, the vast majority of which were placed online.<\/p>\n

\u201cWater users within our community and across the state of Colorado use those funds,\u201d said Steve Wolff, general manager of the Southwestern Water Conservation District.<\/p>\n

Sports betting taxes support Colorado\u2019s Water Plan Grant program. In a January news release<\/a>, the Colorado Department of Revenue celebrated water infrastructure projects supported by the industry\u2019s growth, which the Colorado Water Conservation Board called<\/a> a \u201cstable and permanent source of funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThose funds have been very, very useful,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cThat finding stream is very, very important to the water community.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the fiscal years 2024 and 2025, sports betting taxes supported grants to the Dolores Water Conservancy District to modernize project operations software at McPhee Reservoir and to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to investigate water project opportunities. Projects on the Rio Grande and Animas rivers were also among the awarded grantees.<\/p>\n

Another new player in the gambling industry drawing large sums of money is prediction betting, popularized by the platform Polymarket, which Glick said has disrupted responsible gaming efforts. The site \u2013 which is less regulated than other betting hubs \u2013 allows users to wager cryptocurrency on future outcomes, from government elections and military actions to football champions and tomorrow\u2019s weather.<\/p>\n

Some anonymous users struck gold betting on the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and U.S. strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s changed the game quite a bit,\u201d Glick said.<\/p>\n

\"Problem
Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado President Jamie Glick (left) advertises resources available for gambling addiction at Fort Lewis College on Friday, March 6. (Photo courtesy of Jamie Glick)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The shape-shifting nature of gambling has also infiltrated the trading card market, where collectors and resellers buy and trade laminated cards depicting colorful Pok\u00e9mon or menacing anime characters, hoping to land a high-value card they can sell for thousands or even millions.<\/p>\n

Glick also cited day trading \u2013 the adrenaline-inducing practice of quickly buying and selling stocks, often from home \u2013 as another form of gambling, which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has called \u201cextremely risky\u201d and financially unsound.<\/p>\n

Financial problems, Glick said, are the primary reason people decide to seek help.<\/p>\n

A puzzle of resources missing a few pieces<\/div>\n

In Southwest Colorado, resources for problem gamblers are sparser than in metropolitan areas. In Cortez, the closest Gamblers Anonymous meeting is a 3.5-hour drive away in Grand Junction. The Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado is based in Lakewood.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wish we could have an in-person presence everywhere in the state, but it\u2019s just not a reality at this point,\u201d Glick said.<\/p>\n

In place of gambling-specific meetings, broader and more inclusive resources have emerged.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor people in highly rural areas or lacking transportation, free helplines are available, and 24\/7 crisis care is available,\u201d said Haley Leonard, spokesperson for Axis Health, in a statement to The Journal.<\/em><\/p>\n

The health system, with locations<\/a> in Cortez, Telluride, Dove Creek, Pagosa Springs, Norwood and Durango, offers behavioral health treatments and recovery meetings at their clinics.<\/p>\n

The peer-led groups, called SMART Recovery, are designed for \u201cany addictive behavior,\u201d said Axis Health peer recovery specialist Kevin Frazier in an accompanying statement. \u201cYou do not have to be a patient to participate in SMART Recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

The free Cortez SMART Recovery group meets every Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Axis Health\u2019s Cortez location, 691 E. Empire St. For behavioral health care, Axis accepts Medicare, Medicaid, most private insurance and self-pay and offers a sliding fee scale based on income. Leonard added that Axis operates a 24\/7 care line at (970) 247-5245 for people in crisis.<\/p>\n

At COGamblerHelp.org, the Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado offers support groups, certified counseling, apps and podcasts aimed at treating gambling addiction.<\/p>\n

Signs that someone may be struggling with a gambling addiction include chasing losses, gambling with money they do not have and using gambling as a way to escape mental anguish. To express concern for a loved one who may have a gambling problem, Glick advised being curious, nonjudgmental and caring.<\/p>\n

\u201cLikely, they don\u2019t think that they have a problem, and so you have to be really gentle with the issue,\u201d Glick said. \u201cBut then make sure that people know what resources are available.\u201d<\/p>\n

avanderveen@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Advocates warn that online betting and new markets are reaching younger users and harder to regulate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5737,5736,5735,5741],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-53865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-local-news","category-news","category-newsletter","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53865"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90681,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53865\/revisions\/90681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53865"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=53865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}