Moving money has never been this easy. A simple click can send thousands of dollars from a private citizen to a massive corporation. So, it’s no surprise that online sports betting, after the Supreme Court ruled it was legal under the 10th Amendment, began to rapidly rise in popularity.

But not all sports betting is legal. People under the age of 21 are prohibited from betting in most states and in no state is someone below the age of 18 allowed to bet on sports. In Virginia, only people 21 or older can gamble on sports matches.

Youth participation in sports betting, despite being illegal in every state, has also seen a surge in popularity.  

“It’s hard to get strong data on it because people lie… they use a parent credit card,” said ACHS AP Statistics teacher John Maes. “But, at least the soft data suggests that this generation in particular, with the access to phones, is sports betting like crazy.” 

According to Stop Predatory Gambling, 96 percent of 700,000 gamblers appeared to lose money to online gambling. 

This is worse for online sports betting. “There are just too many what we call confounding variables: variables that you can’t measure, or if you could, there are too many of them to count,” said Maes. “Sports, in their very nature, are ambiguous.”

These confounding variables make it extremely difficult to win in the long run. Every single bet becomes a toss up with limited information. Maes sums it up: “It’s possible [to win, but] I have never heard of an individual person coming out positively, on an app like that, long term.

Parlays, a popular method of sports betting, makes online betting even more appealing to teens. Rather than betting on a single occurrence, bettors have to determine the outcomes of multiple events with low-risk and high-reward stakes. From 2018-2024 the number of parlay bets nearly doubled.

This encourages teenagers to bet because they do not need to have a lot of money and if the parlay hits they win big.

Maes does not think parlays are worth it, saying “You lose very little money, but you’re going to keep losing it over and over again.” He said that because the odds of winning are low, it ends up just being a pit people throw money into. “So promises that never occur are just empty, and therefore, this is the sort of chasm of the claim.”

While many factors add to the risk of problematic gambling behavior and gambling addiction, the National Library of Medicine reported that individuals under 26 years old have a higher risk of getting a gambling addiction.

This risk is likely facilitated by young people’s dopamine receptors. “The two main kinds [of dopamine receptors] are D1 and D2,” said Maes. D1 receptors activate when something good happens to someone, while D2 receptors activate as a relief response.

The brain does not fully develop until the mid-late 20s. For kids, this means they have more D1 receptors and fewer D2 receptors than older people. So, young gamblers have a major dopamine hit when they win and less regret when they lose.

This leads to an increased addiction in young people.

Some students understand the risks associated with gambling. Sophomore Keegan Fogle said “Nah, I don’t [gamble]. I like my money.”

However, other students have exhibited problematic gambling behaviors. One student, remaining anonymous for legal reasons, has been betting on sports for two years and said “I don’t think [betting] has been profitable in my time.” They also said that higher risk bets increased their gambling addiction, saying “[It’s] because of the thrill of winning or losing.”

Another anonymous student is able to bet through friends with older siblings. While the student hasn’t bet that much, they said “I know I would lose money… me personally I would not [win in the long term.]”

Underage sports betting is illegal and often does not yield positive results. “It is exactly as venomous and as poisonous as you can imagine,” Maes said. “You’re not going to win. Even when you win, you don’t.”

Disclaimer: Gambling below the age of 21 is illegal under Virginia law. Theogony does not promote or endorse partaking in underage gambling or any other illegal activities. 

If you or someone you know has a sports betting or gambling problem, please call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit The National Council on Problem Gambling for more information and further assistance.