Maryland among states to debate repealing certain sports betting
Maryland will be the latest state to consider repealing some sports betting when the General Assembly reconvenes in Annapolis in January.
They will debate a new prohibition on wagering on sports, which comes just a few years after Maryland first legalized it.
The Maryland legislation would repeal all sports wagering. It's unclear what chance it stands for passage.
The sports leagues, including Major League Baseball, are reviewing whether to consider limiting certain prop bets. And, the NBA is changing some of its policies on reporting injuries publicly.
Younger people are getting involved in gambling
There is a growing concern in several states about the impact of so-called "sports prop bets."
Maryland resident William Hinman said his life was falling apart, as he was falling into a gambling addiction at local casinos.
"I had all the high-risk symptoms," Hinman said. "I was struggling with alcoholism. I was struggling with mental health, you know, um, depression, anxiety. Um, my wife got fed up because of my alcoholism or my depression. She ended up kicking me out of the house. We separated."
Hinman is now 10 years clean and helps as a peer counselor through the Maryland Center on Problem Gambling, and he's seeing alarming warning signs.
"Let's just say we're definitely getting a lot more calls from younger colors, definitely that young adult age, college kids," Hinman said.
A surge in sports "prop betting" is hooking children as young as 15 years old in Maryland.
Concerns about sports prop bets
You've seen the ads; some betting action happens during the games themselves.
You can bet – not just on the game – but on whether individual players will score, even on individual plays.
Will a pass be dropped? Or a batter strikes out?
Hinman said those prop bets can empty a bank account in just minutes
"If you're down money and you're gambling desperately and recklessly, if you can do that throughout the game, rather than having to wait, you know, two or three hours until the game is over, you're more likely to get yourself into trouble," Hinman said.
States reconsider certain prop bets
Even though gambling revenues soared in more than 30 states last year, including Maryland, a CBS News investigation revealed several states are having second thoughts about allowing certain types of prop sports betting.
Amid worries, prop bets also risk corrupting the athletes upon whom betters are wagering. A new blockbuster F.B.I. case alleges NBA player Terry Rozier tipped gamblers in advance that he would be leaving a game with an injury, and that prop betters traded lucratively on inside info to fuel bets.
Jason Van't Hof, who worked for a company that monitored for suspicious sports bets, says the explosion in popularity of these bets means even minor league or college athletes are now the subject of wagers.
"It was primarily based around just the superstars, you know, the Patrick Mahomes, the LeBron James," Van't Hof said. "Now, it is starting to move down into lower levels of the game, the players coming in off the bench, the rookies that might not have as much playing time.
