West Virginia University researchers have received a nearly $300,000 grant from Arnold Ventures to study risky online sports-betting behavior in West Virginia, with a focus on loss-chasing. The project is meant to help identify when gamblers are moving into risky patterns and to inform responses.
According to a WVU release, the work will use real-time data from state gaming operators to spot trends in risky betting and the triggers that lead to loss-chasing. If the research can show that a near-miss parlay prompts a bettor to keep chasing losses, operators may be able to identify that person at the moment of the loss and take steps such as pausing an account to prevent financial harm.
Joshua Hall, the Milan Puskar dean of the college, said the grant gives Humphreys and the Center for Gaming Research and Development a chance to generate insights for policymakers, industry stakeholders and public health professionals.
In West Virginia, nearly 90% of bets on sporting events are parlay bets, which only pay off if every leg is correct. The article also says West Virginia is one of 38 states where online sports betting is legal and one of seven where iGaming is legal, a category that can include casino-style games such as slots and poker.
Loss-chasing is the tendency to place more bets in an effort to recover earlier losses. A recent paper in PubMed Central says the pattern can be a defining marker, and possibly an antecedent, of problem gambling, and that it is listed in the DSM-5 as a clinical criterion for Gambling Disorder. Humphreys said most bets on sporting events or in iGaming have negative expected values, and that the amount wagered in iGaming is far larger than in sports betting.
Hall said the need for evidence-based research is growing as more states allow online gaming. Humphreys, who has studied gambling for more than 20 years, said people who gamble irresponsibly need help, and the research is intended to make that easier to provide. The grant was awarded through the WVU Foundation, which receives and administers private donations on behalf of the university.
