Calls are up to state’s compulsive gambling hotline

Saturday, Jan. 27, 2001 | 9:51 a.m.

"It's not a coincidence that the football season is ending and the calls are up," said Jerry Bauerkemper, executive director of the Nebraska Council on Compulsive Gambling, which operates the hotline.

The hotline receives the most calls in January and February of each year because it marks the end of the National Football League's season, Bauerkemper said.

"Sports betters can't make up their losses next week as there is no next week," Bauerkemper said while training gambling counselors this week in Norfolk.

The number of calls to the hotline have significantly increased from less than 500 in 1993 to more than 6,000 in recent years.

Callers are immediately linked to certified counselers who will talk with them over the phone or make an appointment to meet with them in person.

The hotline's number is 1-800-560-2126.

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