Super Bowl could bring out problem gambling

CINCINNATI - It's considered by many to be the biggest sporting events of the year: The Super Bowl.
            
Some gambling insiders are expecting this year's Super Bowl to set another kind of record: more than $10 billion will be placed in wagers on the game.
 
But the Super Bowl and betting on it may be much more than a game for the two to five percent of us who are coping with gambling addictions.

Gambling addiction experts say big sporting events like the Super Bowl, can be hard for problem gamblers to avoid betting over their heads and getting out of control.

Although some experts suspect as many as half of us will have some bet riding on the big game; it's problem gamblers who show behavior, often betting over their heads, that gets them into trouble in other parts of their lives.
        
Here's what  Northern Kentucky addiction counselor Thomas Cox of the Awareness and Discovery Group says family and friends should watch for during the Super Bowl."

He may just be a football fanatic, but if every  yard lost sends him into conniption fits," Cox said. "If every yard gained and Tom Brady is having the worst game of his career. Eli Manning is having the best game of his career and he is just freaking out over every yard lost or every yard gained and taking it very personally and getting more and more agitated, uncharacteristically agitated, then there may be a problem."

Experts say if you have ever lied about how much you gamble or felt the need to bet more and more money, you may have a gambling problem.
         
One of the places you can call for help is the Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling. It's number is 1-800-GAMBLER or 1(800) 426-2537.