By Nick Devor
Gamblers Anonymous wasn't working for Sam DeMello.
To the tech-savvy millennial, whose gambling problem had flourished in online isolation, the meetings felt practically public compared with the anonymity of the internet. He struggled to relate to stories shared by men who had decades on him. Their problems were similar, but of different eras.
"My addiction was very digital. I was talking about gambling with cryptocurrency on my cellphone," DeMello says. "Other people were like, 'I've been sober for 20 years and I used to gamble at the horse track.'" His therapist didn't help much either: "I would spend $150 an hour, one hour a week, and then I would go home and have no further support."
DeMello, a software developer by trade, began to build his own solution, an app called Evive that focuses on habit-tracking. He has joined a growing group of developers who are building treatment resources that offer immediate, on-demand help to match the 24/7 availability of digital betting.
Some of the programs use AI chatbots as stand-ins for addiction counselors. Other apps block access to betting sites on a gambler's phone.
As Barron's has reported, scarce federal and state funding has meant limited resources -- and a lack of innovation -- for gambling addiction services. Now some state governments are coming around to the idea of an outsourced digital approach.
DeMello has deals with eight states to offer Evive through their public-health departments, which subsidize the cost of the app and offer it free to citizens. He says those deals have brought in $1.2 million. The partnerships are expanding treatment options, DeMello says, offering help for those seeking moderation, not just abstinence.
"That's really where we live and where I think there are no resources right now," DeMello says.
The national approach to problem gambling has long focused on hotlines. Ads for casinos and sports betting promote 1-800 numbers for people dealing with gambling addiction. Those hotlines have been strained amid growing gambling volumes and are mired in legal and territorial disputes, as Barron's has reported.
"The 1-800 number is always there," DeMello says, "but they never call you." Evive's answer is a daily check-in where users are prompted by a push notification to enter into the app how much they gambled that day, whether they set a limit for themselves, and how they felt while gambling.
DeMello says he was inspired by the lifestyle app called Noom, which offers a psychology-based approach to dieting and food tracking. Evive is also taking a page from apps like Duolingo and Snapchat, which keep track of daily streaks for its users, driving continued engagement.
"We could drive more consistency with fear of missing out than we could with promotion of a healthy behavior," DeMello says.
The so-called FOMO is increasingly leveraged by digital sportsbooks, which send push notifications and time-sensitive promotions to their users.
"The gambling industry is using everything that technology companies use to make gambling accessible and engaging and personalized," DeMello says. "The whole concept here is: How can we take the same things that those operators are using and apply that to support?"
When ChatGPT came online in 2022, Alex Montorro, the founder of MAI Support, wondered if the sponsor relationship in traditional 12-step programs could be replicated by an AI chatbot.
His app, launched this year, uses a large-language model that is trained on 4,000 hours of recorded audio from 12-step program meetings and testimonials from people in recovery. A limited training-data pool helps cut down on AI hallucinations, he says.
Montorro has been in recovery for a gambling addiction for decades and is a firm believer in the 12-step program. Both he and DeMello say they are trying to supplement proven methods of treatment. Montorro says that MAI is available for those moments when a gambling addict can't reach their human sponsor. Demello says Evive's daily diary can serve as a jumping-off point for conversations with a therapist.
Longtime advocates of problem-gambling prevention remain generally unimpressed with the latest tech.
Joe Barbera, a spokesperson for the New York chapter of Gamblers Anonymous, says GA and other recovery methods work best when attendees are there in person, not on Zoom or on their phones, and able to forge more genuine connections.
At the meetings Barbera goes to, the men have been skewing younger over the past year, he says, with many under 25. The instant gratification of social media and high-speed betting they are accustomed to is a far cry from the GA experience.
"I find that the young people are looking for a quick fix," he says, emphasizing that gambling addiction is a lifelong issue.
In New York, where 39% of gamblers have reported issues with problem gambling, the state assembly has debated a bill that would require sports betting operators to remove website links to Evive and other similar responsible-gambling resources and link exclusively to the state's public-health department.
New York state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, who introduced the bill in October, says these private partnerships could open the door to conflicts of interest with gambling operators.
"I don't want to infer bad intent," Woerner tells Barron's, but "arm's length makes me more comfortable. There are resources available that don't have that potential for conflict of interest."
Tech-forward problem-gambling solutions have also drawn the interest of venture capital investors who previously funded gambling apps, Barron's has reported . The apps aren't just about new technology; they generally turn away from the abstinence-only approach preferred by Gamblers Anonymous.
The first step in the Gamblers Anonymous 12-step program is to "learn to accept the truth about compulsive gambling -- that it is an incurable progressive illness which can only be arrested through total abstinence from gambling."
Evive tries to teach bettors moderation in gambling and takes a less absolutist point of view. Gambling industry operators seem to prefer Evive's moderation over a cold-turkey approach.
DraftKings, the online sports betting company, announced a partnership with Evive in October to offer the app to bettors through the sportsbook's "responsible gambling center." DeMello tells Barron's Evive has a similar partnership with betting app FanDuel, and deals with other digital sportsbooks and brick and mortar casinos are in the works.
Write to Nick Devor at nicholas.devor@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 31, 2025 14:48 ET (19:48 GMT)
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