"I CAN'T STOP!"

A sports fan gets sucked into online betting. It nearly wrecks his family.

- Jason Quick

Jordan Holt typed furiously on his computer in his Phoenix hotel room, searching for information on Buddy Hield, then an Indiana Pacers guard. Jordan, a 43-year-old meter and relay technician for a power company, was steaming mad, having just watched an NBA game between the Boston Celtics and the Pacers.

Hield had made a 3-pointer at the buzzer in a game that the Pacers had already secured, breaking an unwritten rule in late-game etiquette. But Jordan wasn't angry about Hield rubbing in the victory. He was angry because the 3 points pushed the final score to 122112. 1 point above the over/under line on his parlay bet.

Jordan lost the $100 bet-but in his mind, he lost $700 in what should have been winnings.

"I started searching for his Instagram address," Jordan says. "I was going to scream at him. I wanted to go off on him."

It was December 2023, and Jordan was deep in the spiral of a rapidly growing problem: online sports betting addiction.

In the wake of a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that enabled states to make sports gambling legal, the industry has exploded. In 2023, the industry brought in $10.92 billion, up 44.5% from 2022, according to the American Gaming Association.

Jordan never thought he would be a part I of the trend. In fact, he had resisted it. In 2021, he had chuckled at a text message from a friend who was trying to lure him into joining FanDuel, an online sports wagering operation. The latest attempt included a link with a promotion: If Jordan signed up, both of them would receive $50 for wagers.

Jordan texted back. "I'm good bro lol. Why you keep trying to give a crackhead crack!?"

Later, he would text, "Trust me man I want to set up an account I just know where that rabbit hole leads me."