A record-breaking quarter of American adults are set to bet some $15.5 billion on this year's March Madness college basketball contest — the latest sign of a fast-growing market that's fuelling a tripling of addiction rates.
The American Gaming Association (AGA), an industry body, says 68 million adults are expected to place bets this year, a sharp rise on the 45 million people who wagered $3.1 billion on last year's extravaganza.
The AGA says ever more Americans are enjoying legal sports betting markets that have been rolled out across 33 states and Washington, , since a decision in 2018. Three more markets are set to launch soon.
Many of them are first-time bettors, says the group. Of those using the mobile apps or websites run by such firms as FanDuel and DraftKings that have taken America by storm, three quarters will be newbies.
States have pocketed some $2.6 billion in new gambling tax revenues since the law changed, but critics warn of rising addiction rates and a flood of bankruptcies, broken homes and even suicides down the road.
The American Gaming Association says ever more Americans are enjoying legal sports betting markets that have been rolled out across 33 states and Washington, DC, since a Supreme Court decision in 2018.
The annual March Madness college basketball contest is known for its passionate devotees and the large number of bets placed. Pictured: Logan Landers of the Grand Canyon Antelopes celebrates his team's win over the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in Las Vegas on March 11
'The US Supreme Court has turned America into one big casino,' Jim Martin, a former regent of Colorado University, said in a warning about the NCAA Tournament betting frenzy in The Denver Post.
'We are in the middle of the largest and fastest expansion of legal gambling in the nation's history, which is quite possibly, as some say, the next opioid crisis.'
Michigan's gambling control board this month launched a 'Don't Regret the Bet' campaign to urge residents to keep their gambling under control during March Madness, the country's biggest annual betting event.
Recovered gambling addicts and researchers warn that sports betting firms often target college students as they lure new users to cell phone betting apps that then hook them on roulette, slots, and other compulsive games.
They spoke of a multibillion-dollar industry using data scientists to attract users with an array of well-timed freebies and rewards that sees them enter credit card numbers and start blowing hundreds of dollars in minutes.
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One researcher warned of a 'time bomb' of gambling misery that will detonate in the not-too-distant future, even as lawmakers look the other way, loosen restrictions further and collect the windfall tax revenues.
A Supreme Court decision in 2018 opened the door to legalizing the billions of dollars that Americans wagered illegally on professional and amateur sports each year — often through illicit bookies or offshore gambling houses.
Since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was struck down, 36 states and Washington DC have legalized sports betting, typically for adults aged 21 and over, says the AGA, joka room vip login an industry body.
Even so, Americans still bet more than $510 billion on the black market each year, denying states tax revenues, the AGA says.
A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll showed that two-thirds of Americans supported legal sports betting last year — up from 55 percent in 2017, before the Supreme Court decision. 
Since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was struck down, 36 states and Washington DC have legalized sports betting, typically for adults aged 21 and over
Gamblers line up to place bets on the NCAA men's college basketball tournament at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Now, folks in states with legalized sports betting can try their luck with Caesars, WynnBET, BetRivers, DraftKings and other big sportsbooks that advertise prominently at games, on television and — controversially — on college campuses.