New poll finds Canadians concerned about sports betting, Maritimers react

A new poll suggests a growing number of Canadians are worried someone they know is addicted to sports betting.

Ads for sports gambling websites have been prevalent during this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. In fact, that has now been the case for years.

Warren Tobin of Sydney, N.S., doesn’t mind betting a few bucks on the big game - he’s been doing it for decades.

“It’s been really good to me, and like I said I don’t bet big,” Tobin said. “I just play PROLINE myself, and that’s under Atlantic Lottery Corporation.”

Tobin says he has also noticed the bombardment of commercials for sports betting sites and while he doesn’t use them himself, he has won pretty big by gambling the more old-fashioned way.

“I went to schooling at Island Career Academy,” Tobin said. “I pretty well, kind of paid off most of that with some of my PROLINE wins.”

Dr. Simon Sherry, a Halifax-based registered psychologist, said he thinks Canadians are right to be worried about gambling.

According to a new Angus Reid poll, they are.

The poll found that more than one in 10 Canadians surveyed had placed a wager on a sporting event in the last year.

“You’ve now got a casino in your pocket 24/7,” Sherry said bluntly.

The poll found 28 per cent of people surveyed are worried someone they know personally is addicted to sports betting and in 81 per cent of those cases, the person they are worried about is a male.

“About two thirds of Canadians gamble in one form or another and not many of us go on to develop a problem,” Sherry said. “But if you’re male, younger and already engaged in multiple other forms of gambling, these ads can be very risky.”

The survey also found that 46 per cent of people who bet on sports had used a responsible gambling tool.

Still, Sherry said how easy it is for people to place a wager these days should be reframed as a public health issue rather than a problem at the individual level.

“I think it would be much better for us to ask, ‘Do we want to expose our entire population to a relentless bombardment of these ads?’” Sherry said. “Because that has known consequences, in constantly putting out this message around gambling - what you’re doing is you’re normalizing gambling.”

Tobin said he still plans to have a bit of fun by placing a few bucks on Wednesday night’s game between the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights.

“Bet $5 or 10, just keep it simple,” Tobin said in advice to others. “If I do win my PROLINE tonight, Mom is getting a nice present. Her birthday is today. Happy birthday Mom, love ya!”

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