Saturday afternoon. The match is on, your friends are in the group chat, and you put €10 on it just to make it "more interesting." Then €10 on the next goal. Then on corners. By Sunday night you've placed thirty bets without ever leaving the sofa. Not long ago, this meant a trip to the betting shop. Now it takes a thumb.
What changed
Betting used to mean going somewhere: a betting shop or a casino, with opening hours, other people around and cash in your hand. Today the bookmaker is in your pocket, open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Money is just a number on a screen, and you can bet during the game on almost anything that happens next.
Look at the US, where sports betting was legal almost only in Nevada until 2018 and then spread state by state. Americans bet $4.9 billion on sports in 2017 and $121.1 billion in 2023, and 94% of those 2023 bets were placed online.
Greece is part of this story too. According to the Hellenic Gaming Commission's 2025 report, the Greek gambling market reached about €3.07 billion in gross revenue. Online gambling grew about three times faster than land-based gambling (+11.75% vs +3.8%) and now makes up close to 39% of the total. 54.5% of Greek adults gambled in some form during the year, and 10.6% of the population gambled at least once with unlicensed operators.
How many people get hurt?
A major 2024 review in The Lancet Public Health combined data from 68 countries and 3.4 million people. It found that 46% of adults and 18% of adolescents had gambled in the past year, and that 8.7% of adults gambled in a way that carries some risk. The risk depends heavily on the type of gambling. Among adults who play online casino games or slots, an estimated 15.8% show problem gambling, the highest of any activity. A Lancet Commission put the global total at about 80 million people with a gambling disorder.
Let's be direct about who is most drawn in: young men. Men gamble more than women at every age, and in Europe's school survey boys were nearly twice as likely as girls to have gambled in the past year (29% vs 16%).
Teenagers are betting too, even though it's illegal
The 2024 ESPAD survey of 15–16-year-olds across Europe found that online gambling among students nearly doubled, from 7.9% in 2019 to 14% in 2024. Boys still lead (20%), but among girls it tripled (from 2.7% to 8.7%). Among students who gamble, the share showing signs of harmful gambling nearly doubled, from 4.7% to 8.5%.
Greek teenagers stand out. In the Greek part of the same survey, 36% of students had gambled for money in the past year, well above the European average of 23%. The Greek research team reported that about 7% showed signs of a possible gambling problem. One honest detail for parents: across Europe, 85% of teenagers who gamble do at least some of it in person, in kiosks, cafés and betting shops, and about two-thirds also bet online. The phone is a growing part of the problem, but not the whole of it.
Why the phone makes it riskier
Gambling researchers point to a few features that make online betting especially easy to lose control of:
Speed. The faster the next bet comes, the less time you have to stop and think. Privacy. No one sees you, so no one can notice you're struggling. No closing time. You can chase a loss at 3 am. Digital money. Tapping "confirm" doesn't feel like handing over a €50 note. It's tied to something you love. When betting merges with being a football fan, it stops feeling like gambling at all.
Think about how it slips into everyday life. A friend posts a winning slip in the group chat. The app sends a notification right as the match kicks off. You're watching with friends and everyone has "a little something" on it. It becomes part of the social ritual, and saying "I don't bet" can feel almost strange. Many people never consciously decide to become regular gamblers. It just happens, one small bet at a time, and the amounts slowly creep up.
There's also the story people tell themselves: "It's not gambling, I know football." Knowledge of the sport can make betting feel like a skill. But bookmakers set the odds so that, over many bets, they come out ahead, however much you know about the teams.
Key numbers
- $4.9bn → $121bn bet on sports in the US in one year, 2017 vs 2023, almost all of it now on phones and computers. Yeola et al., 2025
- 1 in 6 adults who play online casino games or slots has a gambling problem. Tran et al., 2024
- 1 in 3 Greek 15–16-year-olds gambled for money last year, even though it's illegal at their age. ESPAD 2024
The bottom line
Most people who place a bet don't develop a problem. But gambling apps put some of the riskiest forms of gambling (fast, constant, private) into the device you already check all day long. Knowing that is like knowing the current is strong before you swim. You can still go in, but you'll watch yourself more carefully.
Quick self-check
- Do you bet more than you can really afford to lose?
- Do you need bigger bets to feel the same excitement?
- Do you go back another day to win back what you lost?
- Have you borrowed money or sold something to gamble?
- Do you feel guilty about your betting, or hide it from people close to you?
- Has betting caused you money worries, stress or arguments?
These questions are inspired by common gambling screening tools, but this is not a diagnosis. If several apply to you, it's worth taking seriously.
If betting is costing you more than money, talk to someone you trust or a professional. Gambling problems are very common and they respond well to support.
References
- Yeola, A., Allen, M. R., Desai, N., Poliak, A., Yang, K. H., Smith, D. M., & Ayers, J. W. (2025). Growing health concern regarding gambling addiction in the age of sportsbooks. JAMA Internal Medicine, 185(4), 382–389. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.8193
- Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP). Annual report for 2025, as reported in: "Greek gambling market gross gaming revenue rises 6.74% in 2025." Naftemporiki (2026, Jul 16). naftemporiki.gr
- Tran, L. T., Wardle, H., Colledge-Frisby, S., Taylor, S., Lynch, M., Rehm, J., Volberg, R., Marionneau, V., Saxena, S., Bunn, C., Farrell, M., & Degenhardt, L. (2024). The prevalence of gambling and problematic gambling: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health, 9(8), e594–e613. doi:10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00126-9
- Wardle, H., Degenhardt, L., Marionneau, V., Reith, G., Livingstone, C., Sparrow, M., et al. (2024). The Lancet Public Health Commission on gambling. The Lancet Public Health, 9(11), e950–e994. doi:10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00167-1
- ESPAD Group (2025). Key findings from the 2024 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). EUDA & ESPAD (section "Gambling for money"). euda.europa.eu
- University Mental Health Research Institute (EPIPSY), Greek ESPAD 2024 results, as reported in: "Greek teens: 36% gamble, easy access to cannabis and alcohol." To Vima (2025, May 23). tovima.com
About these sources
These 6 sources were published between 2024 and 2026. Reliability: 3 high, 2 medium, 1 lower. High means a review of many studies, a large experiment or long-term study, or official data checked in the original. Medium means useful evidence with real limits, such as a small sample, a single point in time, or no peer review. Lower-rated sources, such as a press report or a commercial survey, are used only for context. How we choose and check sources.
Educational guidance, not diagnosis or medical care.