Playing online casinos in the United States will always include a level of risk, and that is beyond the cost of the wager. For some, choosing to gamble involves a risk of suffering harm from problem gambling.
As access to regulated US online casino apps has grown, some jurisdictions have provided more resources to prevent and treat gambling-related behavioral pathologies in individuals. The private sector has taken action as well, with individuals who have a personal connection to problem gambling at the forefront.
One such person is Sam DeMello, CEO and founder of the gambling support app Evive. Through Evive, DeMello’s goal is to help everyone create a healthier relationship with gambling, regardless of what that looks like for each user.
Founder develops Evive to expand digital resources for gamblers
DeMello’s interest in providing digital resources for people who gamble stems from both his professional experience and his own struggles with problem gambling.
“Professionally, I have been working in the technology industry for the last 15 years,” DeMello explained. “I was drawn to the technology industry because I love the way it (technology) can be used to solve problems, and empower people in innovative ways. Most recently, I worked for a company called Akili Interactive who created the first FDA-approved video game to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It opened my eyes to the way in which technology can be designed specifically to drive behavior change and help people manage health issues.
“Personally, I have struggled with a gambling addiction for most of my life. I started gambling at 12 years old after I saw Chris Moneymaker win the World Series of Poker on ESPN. I played poker all through college and then was introduced to sports betting and online gambling in my early 20s. That led to over a decade of me experiencing escalating gambling harm. It took me a long time to realize the impact that gambling was having on my life. I always thought of it as a financial problem, and as I was making considerable money in my career, I didn’t see myself as having a problem.
“Over time, I began to see that gambling was affecting a lot more than my bank account. It affected my relationships, my self-worth, my productivity at work, and really every aspect of my life. When I finally attempted to seek help for the first time around age 30, I had a very hard time. First I tried therapy, then Gambler’s Anonymous, but unfortunately, neither of those experiences resonated with me, and I was left feeling more alone and hopeless than before. It led me to try and figure it out on my own, and after years of trial and error and lots of failures, I was finally able to develop strategies that worked for me to stop gambling, without feeling deprived and miserable. I have now been in recovery for almost five years.
“In early 2023, I was laid off from my job, and coincidentally, my wife was laid off the same day. It was a recipe for disaster. Financial stress, personal stress, lots of free time. I knew that would put my recovery in jeopardy. So, I decided now that I had been in recovery for a few years, maybe I should take the opportunity to give back to the problem gambling community. I just didn’t know where to start. I knew what my own lived experience had been, but I didn’t know more than that. So I started to do some research on the problem.”
Looking for a more proactive way
That was when DeMello discovered he needed to take a more proactive approach.
“Looking at this landscape, and applying my experience in digital therapeutics, I clearly saw the need for a digital tool that could address these gigantic challenges of access, engagement, awareness and scale,” DeMello continued. “After spending a few months unsuccessfully trying to find a company that was already building it, I decided it needed to exist, and began building it myself.
“I reached out to Dr. Jeff Marotta, one of the leading experts in the fields of problem gambling and responsible gambling, whose name I had come across in my research. I explained my vision, and Jeff agreed to help me. His deep expertise and experience in the space took my rough idea and really shaped the vision for what Evive has become. I was then lucky enough to meet an incredible software developer online who was interested in the problem, and agreed to build it with me.”
DeMello says his colleagues and he have built the Evive app, available for devices on both the Android and iOS operating systems, to easily deliver the resources that can assist anyone who gambles in doing so more safely.
Universal approach to reducing gambling harms
DeMello says the Evive team built the app with a broader perspective on responsible gambling than other resources.
“Most safer gambling tools focus on prevention,” DeMello said. “The way that I see it, safer gambling sits at the front of this funnel, and tries to prevent people from experiencing harm in the first place. Then, at the very end of this funnel, we have the current public health treatment system of helplines, peer support groups (such as Gambler’s Anonymous), and treatment providers. What we know is that by the time an individual with a gambling problem seeks help, significant harm has occurred to themselves, their family, and others.
“What makes Evive different is that we address the entire lifecycle of gambling harm. Sure, we provide prevention tools and fundamental gambling literacy that can prevent someone from experiencing harm in the first place. We can also help those who are attempting to stop gambling, or maintain a gamble-free life with tools that support their recovery goals. Evive uses a universal approach, one that is designed to assist individuals at all ends of the gambling continuum to maintain a healthy relationship with gambling, be that keep their gambling at safe levels, moderate their gambling, stop gambling, or maintain their recovery from a gambling addiction. To my knowledge, we are the only product on the market right now that uses this universal approach toward reducing gambling harm.
“One of the advantages of this approach is that a person does not need to identify as a person with a gambling problem in order to be attracted to Evive. For example, that person who thinks, ‘I don’t consider myself as someone who has a gambling problem, and definitely don’t see myself as an addict, but I don’t like the way that gambling shows up in my life.’ We can help them reduce the gambling harm they’re experiencing to a place where they can either continue to gamble, but in a way that doesn’t cause harm, or accelerate their timeline of getting the help they need to stop gambling harm.”
To make those resources as effective as they can be, DeMello shares that Evive has partnered with Dr. Deborah Haskins. As the chair of Evive’s Scientific Advisory Committee, Haskins works to ensure that the product is accessible across demographics like age, genders, and socioeconomic status.
Currently, people who wish to access Evive can choose to pay $14.99 per month or buy an annual subscription for $149.99. Evive is also working to limit those costs to improve accessibility.
Potential for improved access to Evive
DeMello says his company has “had numerous conversations” with gaming regulatory bodies in the US to provide access to Evive as part of the programs that those regulators offer. To date, those conversations have produced pilot programs in Illinois and Oregon.
He adds that similar conversations with gaming licensees in the US are in initial stages. He comments that as long as Evive retains full control over the content, data and user information, Evive is open to licensing the product to online casino operators.
As to the efficacy of Evive in improving health outcomes for people who gamble, judgments on that are in the early stages, like everything else about Evive.
Data on experiences for Evive users still preliminary
DeMello shares that Evive is preparing for a full independent efficacy study in late 2024. Pending those results, he touts three months of internal data that suggests a high satisfaction level. According to DeMello:
- 88% of Evive users denoted that they “would recommend Evive to a friend”
- Among responding users, 85% stated they are “finding the platform helpful”
- When it comes to “meeting their goal to stop or control their gambling,” 78% of responding users disclosed that they believe that to be the case
- 74% of Evive users agreed that they have “an improved outlook on my future”
When it comes to providing tools to promote safer gambling, there’s no such thing as too many resources. DeMello and the Evive team want to ensure that the resources are tailorable to any gambler while maintaining efficacy.
“There is a huge divide right now between the ‘lived experience’ community that I am a part of, and the scientific research community developing treatment for this condition,” DeMello commented. “My goal is that Evive can act as the bridge. Gambling harm can most effectively be addressed through the collaboration between these communities.”