THEVOICE | 8 = By MICHAEL SU ntil isolated at home at the start of the pandemic two years ago, long- time gambler Jacob never realized how different online gambling is. When casinos and other non- essential establishments closed down in March 2020, Jacob — who asked that his last name not be published - soon found himself laid off from his restaurant job and stuck at home. At first, he was worried about money, but when the federal govern- ment offered the Canada Emer- gency Response Benefit for workers in his situation, Jacob, 26, quickly applied. “I was just at home collecting CERB,” he said. “Then I was watch- ing other people and streamers and influencers investing into crypto. I decided to go into crypto, and I was making a little bit of money.” Before the lockdown, he would visit the Grand Villa Casino once a week — about a 10-minute drive from his residence. He only brought a set amount of cash that he expected to lose. Stuck at home without much “The accessibility, the availability is immediate, as opposed to having to take yourself to a casino.” — JOSEPH HELIEZER, PSYCHOTHERAPIST social life, he decided to try online gambling. He figured it couldn't be that different from the actual casino. He signed into the B.C. Lottery Corporation's PlayNow.com site. “It feels more legit since it was BCLC owned,” Jacob said. “It went very quick. I] was making money, and then I could cash out whenever I wanted and added straight to my account.” It didn’t long before things started spiralling out of control. There was no withdrawal limit, and reload- ing funds only took a few clicks of a mouse. When his bank and gaming accounts could be accessed much more effortlessly than walking to an ATM, it took him no more than two months to lose what he could’ve earned working as a server for a year. “The amount just seemed not so much like real money. Feels fake because it was all online,” he said. Jacob knew he had hit rock bottom when he lost over $10,000 in an hour. Lottery corp earned double its target from online gambling The pandemic hurt BCLC reve- nues hard once casinos were shut- tered. But the income halt was short-termed when B.C. residents began gambling online in much greater numbers. According to BCLC’s 2020/21 annual report, closing the brick-and-mortar sites caused a significant income TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022 | EDITOR MICHAEL SU Specialinvestigation Online gambling skyrockets during Covid-19 pandemic Gambling websites can lead to more addictive behaviour, expert says “The amount just seemed not.so much like real money. Feels fake because it was all online.” - Jacob Many online gambling sites can be accessed on smart phone MicHAEL SU PHOTO decrease, with $917 million lower than a year before the pandemic. However, BCLC rebounded quickly once the lottery service resumed, and Playnow.com raked in $1,374 billion alone, achieving more than double the expected target. At the same time, decreases in areas such as casino marketing activities, casino gaming support activities, and implementing a temporary external hiring freeze also lowered the total BCLC operation budget by four percent. This cost-saving proce- dure also affected GameSense, the responsible-gaming program offered by BCLC. A senior gambling advi- sor for GameSense told the Lang- ara Voice that he was re-assigned to other job casino-related jobs like checking the winning numbers and handling payouts to players when everything moved online. It was a big change for a service that relies heavily on face-to-face interac- tion. Before the shift to online, the GameSense kiosk would be in a small corner of the casino and visible to those who decided to seek advice about problem gambling. “For online, we didn’t have GamesSense live like that,” said the advisor, who asked that his name not been published. He also said the support was still available on the BCLC website. The PlayNow webpage could be closed with a click, and re-entering it was just as easy. The pandemic brought a mass migration. During the lockdown year, 138,162 new accounts signed up on PlayNow. com, an increase almost three times more than a year before the pandemic. The B.C. government’s Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch (GPEB) concluded that during the pandemic, the percentage of players who scored as high-risk gamers increased by one percent. But the number of people who sought help or signed up for self- exclusion went down slightly. “Not many people normally have problems even in casinos,” the advi- sor said. “So online, there were fewer people than that. On top of that, it wasn't advertised. So if somebody’s having a problem, they didn’t know that we were online.” Private gambling sites lack safe- guards The problem is that PlayNow. com isn't the only online gambling website. Rubet, a site that gambles through cryptocurrency, is the one that landed Jacob in a worse spot. Independent gaming sites like Rubet allow players to place bigger bets, cash out even quicker — they are “a much bigger rollercoaster ride,” Jacob said. When his CERB funds ran low, he tried to make a comeback with his crypto wallet. By the time he had to sell his car to settle other living expenses, he realized he needed to stop. However, Rubet doesn’t have the same addiction support that PlayNow does. When the gambling stopped, Jacob was contacted quickly by the Rubet customer support.“They phoned me on my phone and asked me if I wanted to come back for a bonus that they would provide, especially for me,” he said. “That bonus would be for me to buy a certain amount and that they would double that amount. Basically, I need to have more money to play them.” He bought in $1,000 right away just for the bonus. “They did mention when they called me with the offer that they could if I wanted to quit, if I was financially unstable and needed help to quit that they could offer me that help. But they also offered me that promotion, and the promotion just seemed so much better.” Online gambling more addictive Joseph Heliezer, a registered psychotherapist in B.C., has provided addiction support to many over the years. “I’ve seen no evidence that online gambling is less addictive than going to a casino. If anything, it would be the reverse. The accessibil- ity, the availability is immediate, as opposed to having to take yourself to a casino,” Heliezer said. “I think the more aware one becomes of one’s natural impulses the more one is better to able to navigate, some of, you know, the impulse that inspires them to push the button. If 1 were to guess, I would say the impulse is harder to avoid at home.” With the support of his partner and friends, Jacob finally gave in, attending Gambler Anonymous meetings from time to time. But his impulse to win back his money was still intense. He wonders whether the online games he got hooked on were rigged all along.“Is it like presets of whether you can win or not?... ’m sure it isn’t, but like it’s just that the mentality behind it when you start losing.”