Wall Street Journal article profiles gambling-addict woman psychiatrist

A Wall Street Journal artricle published this week profiles how the rise of online gambling has "brought convenience and accessibility to players," but for some like Kavita Fischer, it has led to "devastating consequences."

Fischer, a mental-health professional and suburban mother, found herself entangled in a web of debt and addiction after a tantalizing winning streak turned into catastrophic losses, while she continued to receive bonuses and VIP treatment.

A few excerpts:

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DraftKings and other gambling companies doled out tens of thousands of dollars in credits that kept Fischer playing long after she wanted to quit.

Casinos have always wooed their high-rollers with special treatment, but online-betting has intensified industry tactics. Companies closely track betting habits 24 hours a day, collecting such data as how much time each customer spends on an app, how much money they gamble, what kind of bets they place and how much they lose.

With a real-time view of a customer’s gambling activity, VIP hosts keep in close touch. They can track when customers last used the app and offer credits and other incentives to persuade their most-valued gamblers—by definition, the biggest losers—to return. Payment options give gamblers immediate access to funds that some can’t cover.

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Gamblers are assigned VIP hosts based on how much they are wagering. The personal attention pays off. At PointsBet—acquired in 2023 by Fanatics, a sports-merchandise company—VIP sports bettors representing 0.5% of the customer base generated more than 70% of the company’s revenue in 2019 and 2020, according to internal company documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

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"Gambling companies tracked the ups and downs of Fischer’s betting behavior and gave bonus credits to keep her playing. VIP customer representatives offered encouragement and gifts."

"Looking back, Fischer said she became a psychiatrist to understand the mysteries of the human brain. Over the course of about 11 months, she became a mystery to herself."

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Read the article here: https://www.wsj.com/business/hospita...hare_permalink

The full article mentions she asked to join the state exclusion list 4 times, in addition to emailing a platform asking to be barred. Apparently some clerical issues gummed up the self-exclusion process.

Seems like a multi-sided tragedy here. The VIP hosts should have backed off and the delayed exclusion was unfortunate.

By analogy, I haven't heard of many liquor store owners or bartenders calling their best "customers" to see if they need to stop by for a refill, though I wouldn't be surprised if it's happened. That would be a blatant step over the line.

Of course, the reality is that these customers provide substantial revenue in comparison to the bonus chasers and one-offs.

Firming up the exclusion process and some restraint from the providers would help. Wish the individual in question the best.

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Originally Posted by bpmee

The full article mentions she asked to join the state exclusion list 4 times, in addition to emailing a platform asking to be barred. Apparently some clerical issues gummed up the self-exclusion process.

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Clerical issues coincidentally affected a VIP client just when she wanted to stop, but there was no issue (not even the lack of funds) when it came to continuing to lose money.

I understand the tactic and that business is business, but pressuring vulnerable individuals when they are trying to back out is too much for me. There should be more resources for people like her, to whom I can only wish the best.

Fully agree...this one went over the line.

It would be one thing if she was a multi-millionaire for whom a few hundred thousand was a moderate indiscretion. However, it's another when a recently divorced parent of two in a middleclass neighborhood is pushed to the brink.

I'm surprised the credit checks didn't raise risk flags at some of the payment processors. In the USA, there are 3 major credit bureaus that track everything from home purchases to gas station credit cards.

Any cash advance north of $5-$10K would potentially ding someone's record, especially if it's not paid off. Even if a processor doesn't know why the score has dropped, the fact that it suddenly dropped should be enough to slow things down. (I might be ignorant here, so if anyone knows better, chime in).

The $500K win and give-back fueled part of this, too. That's really unfortunate. Though she definitely bears most of the responsibility here, it's obvious others had a hand in this mess.