Sports Betting on the Rise Ahead of the Superbowl

Many people have money riding on the outcome of Sunday's big game. Marc Lefkowitz and Bobby Nassiri told Bret and Veronica how San Diegans manage to get around California's ban on gambling and, how those in need of recovery can find help.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Many people have money writing on the outcome of Sunday's
Big Game and joining us now in the cocon News
Lifeline is gambling expert Mark Lefkowitz.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
And executive director of Carlsbad Beach Recovery Bobby Nasiri.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
Good morning, morning, Yes, good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
We're glad you guys joined us because we've been talking
about this a lot. I mean, not that we've been
plunking down any money on this game, all right, but
we've been talking about a lot. You know, this is
the time of the year that sometimes people just over
extend themselves because they're so excited about it. How common
is sports betting here in San Diego?

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Sports betting is pretty common only I did a lot
of work in North County and South Cutty, Orange County,
and in the old days, prior to all the apps
and everything, there was sports betting in Tijuana, so people
can just cross the border. So it's been pretty much
for a long time something available in San Diego. But

(01:02):
now with legalized sports betting and that, you know, even
though it's illegal in California, there are ways of getting
around the geo fencing doing it through proxy? Are there? Now?
The big new thing which is legal in California, are
prediction markets to be able to put action in And
you guys have great fans, you know, with all the

(01:26):
local all your sports teams, and it gives people a
reason to gamble. It's sort of the cherry and the
chocolate sprinkles and the hot fudge on top of enjoying
a game. Right.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
It's like walking into a chocolate shop and saying you're
not going to buy anything, but you smell everything and
you're like wow. Because they make it so easy these
days to part with your money. And I'm wondering about
whether they can enforce age restrictions as well. And I
know it's illegal in California, but as you say, there
are ways around it. But are there age restrictions and

(01:58):
are seeing kids finding loopholes to gamble money that they
don't necessarily have.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
Absolutely. I think that's going to be the big hidden
problem that's eventually going to come to fruition. I work.
Most of my calls now come from parents of high
school kids, and there's sort of a secret especially among
the athletic the people who are involved the high school
students that are involved in athletics or sports betting, they're

(02:28):
either doing it through proxy. Having one kid who's twenty one,
you could still illegally bet. There are many sports books
that are offshore, or kids are really smart with the
computers and they're able to geo, you know, sort of
get beyond using VPNs in other ways of being able
to bet, like as if they were in other states.
But it's going to be a really big problem, and

(02:50):
it's very difficult, you know, especially at that age. The
onset of the earlier, the onset usually the bigger the problem,
and the pregnancy rate. Whereas maybe one in fifty adults
might get addicted, maybe one in twenty adolescens will get
addicted to gambling. And we handle a lot of that

(03:13):
now at Carlsbad Beach Recovery to be able to get well,
not high school students, but adults who are able to
be treated. You know, addiction gambling was put in the
medical books with drugs and alcohol about twelve years ago,
and you know, we're seeing a lot of the similarities.

(03:35):
But gamblers are being bombarded unlike people with substance abuse
or alcohol, with commercials and everything else telling them it's
okay to gamble. And you have people a lot like
Lebron James and other influencers are getting people to gamble,
and the way gambling is, there's the frequency of being
able to gamble. I've been in my own recovery for

(03:58):
over forty years. I'm up actually on forty three years.
And it was easy for me. I had a bookie.
There was no internet there or no cell phones. But
now with all the technology and in terms of gambling,
be able to bet in the game. Betting whether or
not the next play is going to be a pass
or a touchdown or a fumble or miss. The point

(04:19):
it creates generates so many more bets, allowing the operators
to win more because they make a fee on all
the loss on all the losses. You know, we're not
against gambling, We're just against that marketing and being able
to help. You know, just like substance abuse and alcoholism
are treatable, so is gambling addiction.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
All right, we're talking to gambling expert Mark Leuthgowitz, an
executive director at the Carls bed Beach Recovery Bobby in
a siri. We're almost out of time, gentlemen, but we
do have to ask this. If you think you have
a problem, or if you think someone you know has
a problem, who do you reach out to?

Speaker 3 (04:57):
I'm going to turn this over to Bobby. You can
reach out to us at Carl's Bad Beat Recovery.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
You can see if at Carlsbadbeat Recovery dot com, or
you can just look us up on Google. We can
find our number around there.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Perfect. Thank you so much, guys, Thank you.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
I appreciate your time.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Guys, have a great day. Yeah Cogo News time now
at eighteen