Perhaps the striking finding by the SMU team, however, was the confirmation of the oldest data point in the history of gambling: The house always wins. Fewer than 5 percent of the gamblers that its survey tracked withdrew more money than they deposited from online sports betting apps. This is unsurprising, partly because the odds are always tilted in the sportsbook’s favor and partly because sports betting companies go to great lengths to freeze out gamblers with a track record of success. The Wall Street Journal reported in July on how some winning bettors will find themselves unable to place more than a few dollars or even as little as 50 cents in future bets, limiting the sportsbook’s potential losses—and the customer’s potential success.

While sportsbooks suppress the winners, they take extraordinary pains to keep everyone else chasing their losses. This can be particularly dangerous when addiction is a factor. The Athletic profiled an Arizona man who lost more than $110,000 during a 15-month betting spree, which saw him take out multiple loans and contemplate suicide to erase his debts before coming clean to his wife and seeking help. Like many addicts, he hoped that one big win could help erase dozens of smaller losses.

He hated himself. Several times, he tried quitting and would go days without placing a bet. Then his phone would ping. It was his VIP representative from FanDuel with a text message.

Hey Jordan … I just gave you a $200 bonus bet into your account.

Gambling addiction is not a new phenomenon. In states where gambling is legal, casinos have long been required to include disclaimers in their advertising and to fund hotlines for troubled individuals to get help. But the nature of modern technology makes it far easier for people to get addicted in the first place. No longer do they have to drive to a brick-and-mortar location to make a bet or cross state lines to reach a sportsbook; now they can do it on their own couch, prodded by push alerts, bonus bets, relentless advertising, and other cheap tricks.