Growing up in the Midwest, Zach Everett saw gambling as little more than a fun diversion. He’d play poker with friends and go to the racetrack with his father. It wasn’t until 2019, just after he moved to Denver, that the problems started.
That year, Colorado voted to legalize sports betting. The salary from his job wasn’t enough to cover the rent. Maybe, he thought, he could make up the difference by betting on sports online.
He started with sports and teams he knew well — particularly his favorite basketball team, the Minnesota Timberwolves — but by 2021 he was betting on anything he could, once winning $55,000 on a golf tournament, then losing it all over the next two days.
