Exploring the Occurrence and Procedure of Addiction in Sports Lottery: A Case Study

Objectives: In this study, we explored the occurrence and process of gambling addiction among sports lottery players. Methods: We used a case study approach. Three gamblers participated in this study and completed in-depth interviews and questionnaires. Results: We found that the motivation of winning is the key factor throughout the whole procedure of sports lottery addiction. The occurrence of sports lottery addiction generally experiences 4 patterns: initial, continuous, struggling, and addictive. Through these 4 patterns, we found that the procedure of sports lottery addiction includes interaction of individual needs and external attractions, motivation of sport lottery, action of sports lottery, emotional change, self-control versus out of control, investment expansion and motivation of winning, overconfidence or regret, continuous joint action of investment expansion and motivation of winning, addiction of sports lottery, and negativity. Conclusion: With in-depth analysis of the transition procedure from normal gambling to addiction to sports lottery, our findings not only revealed the changes of each sports lottery addiction pattern, but also analyzed the core factors for each pattern, which provide theoretical support for further study of sports lottery addiction.