Assemblyman Dan Hutchinson in New Jersey has raised the issue of micro betting, arguing that the vertical is particularly vulnerable for young consumers, and asking fellow lawmakers to consider banning it.
In a newly introduced bill, Hutchinson seeks to garner enough support and see the Garden State outlaw micro betting. He said the activity had "dopamine-type effects," and has cited his own experience with dealing with sports bettors who have lost it all to the activity.
Critics say micro betting is an "out-of-control" activity
He believes micro betting has had a significant role to play in personal bankruptcies, with Hutchinson himself a bankruptcy attorney, and argues that he has seen how far the activity can be taken and what the damages left in its wake are.
This sentiment was echoed by gambling counselor Dr Harry Levant, who similarly said that micro betting was a "defective product" and, by design, too addictive to be safe even recreationally.
"I go through all the bank statements, I see all the FanDuel bets and all this, and he promised me it wasn't going to happen again," Hutchison said of one client. "But it did happen again. He went down on his bankruptcy payments, on his mortgage payments, and he's facing the loss of his home. It's terribly upsetting," Hutchinson told CBS, the media that did the original reporting.
Beware the black market
Levant similarly believes that the product is "out of control," explaining that the activity invites constant and never-ending betting on every possible moment of a game.
However, not everyone agrees that an outright ban would be the best course of action. Some have objected that a ban would simply serve to empower black-market operators that are not beholden to any regulatory standards, and thus harm not only the people Hutchinson is trying to help but also deprive the public of valuable income.
