Gambling Treatment Spikes as Betting Options Grow in Nebraska
by Olivia White
LINCOLN – Gambling problems are growing for Nebraskans as new casinos pop up, additional avenues to place bets continue to be legalized, and still more betting options are being petitioned for the 2026 election ballot.
Six licenses were approved for casinos in Nebraska in 2020, and there are five currently operating, bringing in a revenue of $261 million in 2025. The commercial casinos operating are located in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Columbus, and Ogallala – three of which were opened in the last two years. In the same time frame, gambling treatment services have increased by approximately 30 percent across the state.
Casinos are only part of the concern in the rise of gambling addiction, the Executive Director of the Nebraska Council on Problem Gambling (NeCPG) Mike Sciandra said.
Skill Touch Machines in bars, casinos, and retail have greatly increased in the last few years and have led to problematic behavior. While it is not legal in Nebraska, mobile sports betting has exploded in recent years, and it is currently being petitioned to be added to the ballot this November. In-person sports betting is legal as of 2021 and active in casinos in the state.
“The biggest factor, in my opinion, is the overall normalization of gambling behavior,” Sciandra said. “Betting is talked about in nearly every sports media conversation, during sporting events, on traditional and social media, commercials, and with influencers.”
Prediction Markets Promote ‘Investments’
One way Nebraskans have gotten around the online sports betting restrictions are using “prediction markets.” The companies running the markets call it trading instead of betting – offering wagers on every topic, including sports.
The difference is that users are buying and selling contracts based on future events’ outcomes, with the price determined by supply and demand. If you wager correctly, your contract pays. If not, you lose your “investment.”
Prediction markets have already caused controversy nationwide, with users being accused of insider trading, companies “cheating” players out of money on technicalities, and lawsuits over whether they are skirting gambling laws.
“While prediction markets are a recent development, we are already seeing people struggling with them entering treatment,” Sciandra said. “Prediction markets are dangerous for multiple reasons. Some people look at them as ‘investments’ and do not see them as gambling. Also, prediction markets offer wagers on a variety of topics, including sports, government and politics, pop culture, weather, and current events.”
Sports Betting Ballot Push
This year, Nebraska casinos announced they are launching a sports betting petition drive to put the issue before the voters. Gambling advocates are pitching to voters that increased gambling options will provide more property tax relief in the state.
“We contributed $66 million in taxes last year between Lincoln and Omaha. This would probably be close to a hundred million dollars when you include mobile sports betting as well,” Lynne McNally, government director of Warhorse Casino, said in a January interview.
McNally said the constitutional amendment proposals would limit licenses to the current licensed race tracks in the state.
“The CA is very simple it just says that you can take online wagers in affiliation with a licensed race track enclosure so that’s the CA real simple,” she said.
Lance Morgan, CEO of Warhorse Casino, said he thinks it will be a slam dunk to get mobile sports betting passed on the ballot.
“I don’t think it will be any trouble getting it passed. Our polling shows it’s somewhere around 70 percent approval rating,” he said. “And that’s before sports betting really took off here.”
Despite his push for mobile sports betting, Morgan is not a proponent of competing prediction markets, calling them a “loophole gone wild.”
“It looks like a sports bet. It quacks like a sports bet. It’s a sports bet,” he said. “How is betting on the Huskers the same as trading on the price of soybeans?”
Lifelong Gambling Addicts
Sciandra sees problem gambling affecting all ages and demographics, but youths and young adults have the potential to be most exposed to gambling by consuming a large amount of online content when their brain development is not yet complete.
“The prefrontal cortex that aids in decision-making is usually not fully-developed until age 25, so problematic gambling behaviors can become habitual and develop patterns that last later into life,” Sciandra said.
Problem gambling that happens alongside substance use and mental health concerns is also a significant connecting factor.
“It is important for individuals already struggling with other addictions or mental health concerns to understand that problem gambling can become a substitute addiction or another form of self-medicating that negatively impacts them emotionally and financially,” he said.
Sciandra is a problem gambler in recovery himself after being born into a family of addiction in Las Vegas and casting his first bets at the age of nine. Struggling with gambling over the last 20 years, he made the decision to make a change and has been bet-free since December 15, 2020.
He said, while most people think of the financial consequences of gambling, for many – including himself – the truly devastating consequences are emotional and spiritual.
“Any addiction takes a toll on a person emotionally, but the amount of lies, deceit, and living outside of character that goes on for a problem gambler are significant,” Sciandra said. “I tell people that even though I went financially bankrupt twice due to my gambling behavior, I became emotionally and spiritually bankrupt as well.”
While there isn’t a widespread solution to the issue of problem gambling, he said it is important to provide resources for prevention and treatment at the state and federal levels.
“There is currently no federal funding for problem gambling research or treatment,” Sciandra said. “More resources need to be invested into getting accurate data on how large of a concern problem gambling has become, and what forms of treatment are most effective.”
March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month, which provides a time to be mindful of having conversations around this issue, both within families and at the government level.
“The more this concern is talked about as a public health issue – not just a bad habit – the more truth can be spoken, the more resources are known, and stigma around problem gambling can be reduced,” Sciandra said.
For more information, please contact the Nebraska Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-833-BET-OVER (1-833-238-6837).
— Olivia White is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel. She previously was a staff writer for The Northside Sun.
