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Rise in sports gambling sparks concern for increasing addiction rates in Denmark

Tuesday 16th 2024 on 11:21 in  
Denmark

At the height of his addiction, Mads Vendelin Olesen, now 28, spent his entire day in his Copenhagen apartment gambling on sports. In the mornings, he would bet on competitions in Australia and Asia, in the afternoons, he would focus on European matches, and in the night, he would gamble on games in North and South America.

Olesen, who is now free of his gambling habit, compares the thrill to the high that drug addicts get from substances, or others might get from alcohol. He is one of approximately 30,000 Danes who, according to a 2022 report from the Danish Gambling Authority, have a serious problem with gambling.

The Center for Gambling Addiction fears that this number will rise due to the numerous major sporting events happening this summer. Statistics from Danske Spil, a Danish gambling company, show that they had 158,000 customers in the early rounds of the European Football Championship this year, double the number of people who played during the same weeks last year.

Olesen began gambling at 13, initially betting 30 Danish Kroner (roughly $5) on football matches, and winning 280 Kroner ($45). Over the years, his betting became more frequent and he estimates that he has lost a total of 1.5 million Kroner (roughly $240,000) since he was 14.

Nowadays, Olesen has his addiction under control and no longer gambles. However, he’s overwhelmed by the amount of gambling that is taking place this summer, particularly due to the excessive amount of gambling advertisements.

Despite the increase in players, Danske Spil is not worried about a surge in gambling problems. They note that their customers are betting an average of 25% less than during the last European Championship. They attribute this to the company’s implementation of several responsibility initiatives over the past few years, and their monitoring of all their players for signs of addiction.

Olesen now enjoys watching sports without betting on them. He no longer obsesses over minor details of the game, such as who gets the next corner kick or how many throw-ins are awarded during a match.