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Governor Hochul Announces Launch of New 10-Year Statewide Effort to Assess Gambling Addiction and Behaviors in New York State


Decade-long Gambling, Health and Recreational Behaviors Study Includes Surveys and Interviews of New Yorkers Across the State

Survey Effort Is One of Governor’s State of the State Initiatives and Will Inform Future Support and Services

 

On April 29, 2026, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the launch of a new, decade-long survey effort designed to assess gambling behaviors of New Yorkers and evaluate where additional problem gambling-related services and supports may be needed. New Yorkers in all areas of the state will be contacted to promote participation in the surveys, the results of which will be used to inform enhancements and expansions to gambling services across New York. The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) is administering and overseeing the survey effort.

Gambling Addiction and Behaviors in New York State

“New York State remains committed to helping those impacted by problem gambling, which can affect anyone, regardless of age or where they live,” Governor Hochul said. “We look forward to gaining valuable insight into the gambling behaviors of New Yorkers as part of this effort, as we continue to work to raise awareness of this issue. This effort will help ensure we’re using real data to guide smart, targeted investments that protect New Yorkers and strengthen access to care.”

Office of Addiction Services and Supports Commissioner Dr. Chinazo Cunningham said, “As gambling opportunities continue to expand in New York State, we need to be proactive and determine where additional services may be needed to help those affected by gambling addiction. The results of this effort will help to inform future plans and initiatives, ensuring that New Yorkers remain protected from gambling harms, and that those impacted are able to access the services they need.”

This 10-year study will target adults 18 years and older, and data collected will help OASAS understand trends and viewpoints associated with gambling harms, the prevalence of problem gambling and gambling disorder, and community awareness of risks associated with gambling. It will also assist in continued planning and implementation of prevention, treatment, harm reduction and recovery services within communities throughout New York. Questionnaire-based surveys as well as interviews and focus groups will be conducted through this initiative. More information about the survey effort can be viewed on the OASAS website.

OASAS oversees and provides a wide range of gambling services in New York State. This includes access to both outpatient and inpatient treatment services, support at Recovery Community Outreach Centers, and access to peers with lived experience with gambling. The regional Problem Gambling Resource Centers (PGRCs), which are funded by OASAS and operated by the New York Council on Problem Gambling, can provide regional resources including information, training, and connections to help.

In addition, OASAS offers free financial counseling to those facing financial challenges due to gambling behaviors through a partnership with GamFin. The State has also run several public awareness campaigns that support healthy gambling behaviors and educate New Yorkers on how to reduce risks that can be associated with gambling, including the ongoing “Take a Pause” campaign. This campaign encourages people to evaluate their gambling habits by taking a survey and provides tips and resources on how to maintain healthy gambling behaviors.

OASAS also works closely with the NYS Gaming Commission and the NY Council on Problem Gambling through the Responsible Play Partnership, collaborating on regulatory measures to prevent underage gambling, promote responsible gaming, and how New Yorkers can access support if needed.

New York State Gaming Commission

In her 2026 State of the State address, Governor Hochul directed the New York State Gaming Commission to take appropriate action to ensure young people are not downloading betting apps, creating accounts or using others’ legitimately established accounts. Governor Hochul also directed the Commission to consider ways to use new technology to assist with identifying and helping those who may need gambling addiction assistance. Last month, she previewed sweeping measures that would prevent youth from gambling online, bar sports wagering operators from using AI to target bettors, establish activity triggers that would require operators to check on their patrons, and establish other innovative efforts to protect New Yorkers who are legally able to gamble from potential harms. The Commission is accepting comments on the draft language until May 15, 2026 via email to gamingrules@gaming.ny.gov.

New York State Gaming Commission Chair Brian O’Dwyer said, “As we’ve seen gambling opportunities increase, so has our responsibility to ensure that those facing gambling harms have prompt access to help. This survey will help direct resources where they are needed most and help guide future gaming policymaking to ensure that New York State always prioritizes responsible gambling practices.”

State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. said, “As Chair of the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, I commend Governor Hochul and OASAS for launching this comprehensive, long-term study on gambling behaviors across New York State. As legal gaming continues to expand, it’s important that we also build on our commitment to understanding its impacts and ensuring that prevention, treatment, and recovery resources keep up with that growth. This proactive, research-driven approach will help to provide the critical data needed to protect the health and well-being of vulnerable individuals, families, and promote responsible gaming practices throughout the State.”

State Senator Nathalia Fernandez said, “This long-term effort to gather and analyze data is a thoughtful step toward strengthening prevention, treatment, and recovery services. As gambling becomes more widely available than ever before, it is critical that we understand how these changes are impacting New Yorkers. I commend Governor Hochul for taking a conscientious, long-term approach to building a more informed and effective response to problem gambling.”

Assemblymember Carrie Woerner said, “I applaud the Governor for this effort. With the rapid expansion of legal sports betting and mobile gambling, New Yorkers have more opportunities to wager than ever before. While this growing form of entertainment is a powerful economic driver, we cannot ignore its impact on those vulnerable to addiction. Given that gambling can be a devastating addiction, the need for prevalence data is more urgent than ever to help us understand the scope of the problem in New York State and guide responsible public policy.”

New Yorkers struggling with an addiction, or whose loved ones are struggling, can find help and hope by calling the state’s toll-free, 24-hour, 7-day-a-week HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or by texting HOPENY (Short Code 467369).

Available addiction treatment including crisis/detox, inpatient, residential, or outpatient care can be found on the NYS OASAS website.

View the original source of this article here.



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Recent Reviews

Why Gboard is better than Samsung Keyboard


The Samsung Keyboard supports glide typing, voice dictation, multiple languages, and deep customization through Good Lock. On paper, it’s a very capable and perfectly functional keyboard. However, it’s only when I started using it that I realized great features don’t necessarily translate to a great user experience. Here’s every problem I faced with the Samsung Keyboard, and why I’m permanently sticking with Gboard as my main Android keyboard.

I have been using Gboard and the Samsung Keyboard on a recently bought Galaxy S24, which I got at a massive discount.

Google’s voice typing doesn’t cut me off mid-sentence

Fewer corrections, fewer cutoffs, faster dictation

I might be a professional writer, but I hate typing—whether it’s on a physical keyboard or a virtual one. I type slower than I think, which I suspect is true for most people. That becomes a problem when I have multiple ideas in my head and need to get them down fast. It’s happened far too often: I start typing one idea and forget the other. Since jacking my brain into a computer isn’t an option (yet), I’ve been leaning more and more on voice typing as the fastest way to capture my thoughts.

Now, both Samsung Keyboard and Gboard support voice typing, but I’ve noticed that Gboard with Google’s voice engine is just better at transcription accuracy. It picks up on accents flawlessly and manages to output the right words. In my experience, it also seems to have a more up-to-date dictionary. When I mention a proper noun—something recently trending like a video game or a movie name—Samsung’s voice typing fails to catch it, but Google nails it.

That said, you can choose Google as your preferred voice typing engine inside Samsung Keyboard, but it’s a buggy experience. I’ve noticed that the transcription gets cut off while I’m in the middle of talking—even when I haven’t taken a long pause. This can be a real problem when I’m transcribing hands-free.

Gboard offers a more accurate glide typing experience

Google accurately maps my swipe gestures to the right words

Voice typing isn’t always possible, especially when you’re in a crowded place and want to be respectful (or secretive). At times like these, I settle for glide (or swipe) typing. It’s generally much faster than tapping on the keyboard—provided the prediction engine maps your gestures to the right word. If it doesn’t, you have to delete that word, draw that gesture again, or worse—type it out manually.

Now, both Samsung Keyboard and Gboard support glide typing, but I’ve noticed Gboard is far more accurate. That said, when I researched this online, I found a 50-50 divide—some people say Gboard is more accurate, others say Samsung is. I do have a theory on why this happens.

Before my Galaxy S24, I used a Pixel 6a, before that a Xiaomi, and before that a Nokia 6.1 Plus. All of my past smartphones came with Gboard by default. I believe Gboard learned my typing patterns over time—what word correlates to what gesture, which corrections I accept, and which ones I reject. After a decade of building up that prediction model, Gboard knows what I mean when my thumb traces a particular shape. Samsung Keyboard, on the other hand, is starting from zero on this Galaxy S24—leading to all the prediction errors. At least that’s my working theory.

There’s also the argument for muscle memory. While glide typing, you need to hit all the correct keycaps for the prediction engine to work. If you’re even off by a slight amount, the prediction model might think you meant to hit “S” instead of “W.” Now, because of my years of typing on Gboard, it’s likely that my muscle memory is optimized for its specific layout and has trouble adapting to Samsung’s.

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I mix three languages in one message, and Gboard just gets it

Predictive multilingual typing doesn’t get any better than this

I’m trilingual—I speak English, Hindi, and Bengali. When I’m messaging my friends and family, we’re basically code-mixing—jumping between languages in the same sentence using the Latin alphabet. Now, my friends and I have noticed that Gboard handles code-mixing much more seamlessly than Samsung Keyboard.

If you just have the English dictionary enabled, neither keyboard can guess that you’re trying to transliterate a different language into English. It’ll always try to autocorrect everything, which breaks the flow. The only way to fix this is by downloading a transliteration dictionary like Hinglish (Hindi + English) or Bangla (Latin). Both Samsung Keyboard and Gboard support these dictionaries, but the problem with Samsung Keyboard is that it can only use one dictionary at a time.

Let’s say I’m writing something in Latinized Bangla and suddenly drop a Hindi phrase. Samsung Keyboard will attempt to autocorrect those Hindi words. Gboard is more context-aware. Since my Hinglish keyboard is already installed, I don’t have to manually switch to it. Gboard can detect that I’m using a Hindi word even with the English or Bangla keyboard enabled, and it won’t try to autocorrect what I’m writing. This also works flawlessly with glide typing, which is a huge quality-of-life improvement over Samsung Keyboard.

This isn’t just an India-specific thing either. Code-mixing is how billions of people type every day—Spanglish in the US, Taglish in the Philippines, Franglais across parts of Europe and Africa.

Gboard looks good without me spending an hour on it

I don’t have time for manual customization

Samsung Keyboard is hands down the more customizable option, especially if you combine it with the Keys Cafe module inside Good Lock. You get granular control over almost every aspect of the keyboard—key colors, keycaps, gesture animations, and a whole lot more. While for some users, this is heaven, I just find it too overcomplicated and a massive time sink.

I don’t have the patience to sit and adjust every visual detail of my keyboard. Sure, it gets stale after a while, and you’d want to freshen it up, but I don’t want to spend the better part of an hour tweaking a virtual keyboard. This is where Gboard wins (at least for me) by doing less.

Android 16 brings Material 3 Expressive, which automatically themes your system apps using your wallpaper’s color scheme. With Gboard, all you have to do is change the wallpaper, and the keyboard updates to match—no Good Lock, no manual color picking. It’s a cleaner, more seamless way to keep your phone looking good without putting in the extra legwork.

The keyboard you don’t think about is the one that’s working

I didn’t switch to Gboard because Samsung Keyboard was broken. I switched because Gboard made typing feel effortless. If you’re a Samsung user who’s never tried it, it’s a free download and a five-second switch. You might not go back either.

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