- California’s treatment program reached 4,670 people through 143 authorized providers in 2024-25.
- New intakes included 799 gamblers and 176 relatives harmed by someone else’s gambling.
- More Californians are seeking help for sports betting and online gambling, neither of them legal in the state.
- The problem gambling seat on the state gaming policy committee expires Dec. 31, and its holder will not seek reappointment.
California problem gambling treatment reached 4,670 people through 143 providers in 2024-25, in a state with no legal sportsbook or online casino.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s state treatment program for problem gambling took in 799 new gambler clients in 2024-25 while fielding an influx of people seeking help for sports betting and online gambling, neither of which is legal in the state. The program logged another 176 intakes from family members harmed by someone else’s gambling.
An Influx With No Legal Market
Sosha Marasigan-Quintero, principal of the Behavioral Health Promotion Section at the California Department of Public Health, presented the update to the California Gambling Control Commission at its May 7 meeting. The commission published the account this month in the July issue of Industry Matters, its quarterly newsletter.
Marasigan-Quintero listed the influx among the emerging issues facing the state Office of Problem Gambling and said it increases the need for prevention and treatment programs.
No licensed California sportsbooks operate in the state, online or retail, after voters rejected two competing sports betting ballot measures in 2022. There is no licensed online casino either.
The legal footprint of California gambling is tribal casinos, cardrooms, the state lottery, pari-mutuel horse racing and charitable games.
What The Treatment Numbers Show
The treatment track is CalGETS, the California Gambling Education and Treatment Services Program, which the Office of Problem Gambling runs for gamblers and for people affected by someone else’s gambling.
The figures the office presented, drawn from the 2024-2025 CalGETS Treatment Services Report, put 4,670 individuals reached against 143 authorized providers statewide. Of the new intakes, 799 were gamblers and 176 were affected individuals, the term the program uses for a close family member of someone with a gambling addiction. Providers covered 230 languages, and 85 clients were served in a language other than English.
The prevention side ran larger. Youth exposed to prevention programming numbered 38,390, and a youth multimedia campaign registered 5 million impressions.
The office closed with a call to action for cardroom licensees on responsible gambling. It asked operators to train staff to recognize the signs of gambling addiction, to educate them on the state resources available to gamblers who need them, and to promote the program’s “Where Do I Stand?” self-assessment, the state problem gambling hotline and its online chat link.
The Problem Gambling Seat Opens Dec. 31
The Gaming Policy Advisory Committee agenda for its July 20 meeting listed five seat categories under 2026 term expirations. Marasigan-Quintero holds Category B, the problem gambling and gambling addiction representative, and is not seeking reappointment.
David Fried, one of two Category D representatives for cardrooms with 25 or more tables, is not eligible for reappointment. One of the two Category E seats, for cardrooms with fewer than 25 tables, is vacant. Trevor Dewar, the Bureau of Gambling Control representative in Category A, and Kirill Yermanov, the local law enforcement representative in Category F, are both eligible for reappointment.
The same agenda carried an Office of Problem Gambling summer campaign update and an update on a subcommittee project on internal controls for third-party providers of proposition player services.
The commission’s 2026 term expiration notice sets those terms to end Dec. 31, 2026, and says the commission is taking applications through Oct. 16 for the seats in categories B, D, E and F.