Teddy Wojtowicz hasn’t gambled in about three years, after his betting habit cost him his career and enough money to have bought a house, and left him with a criminal record.
He says his addiction escalated from spending $20-$40 on a night out, to wasting his paycheque every two weeks, to getting payday loans — and writing $22,000 in cheques to himself from his workplace.
“When you’re gambling and you see that you keep losing and you know that you’re losing, there’s some part of you saying, ‘Well, the next time I’m gonna win,'” Wojtowicz said.
The former accountant, who also had an alcohol addiction, admitted himself to a hospital in Dauphin, Man., in April 2023, after he began to think about suicide, and went through weeks of treatment to deal with his gambling. It was the second time he had sought help in the past decade.
Wojtowich is one of a rising number of men and boys who are turning to hospital emergency departments after reaching rock bottom with gambling and related addictions and disorders, according to a new study published Wednesday in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Researchers in Ontario found a dramatic increase in emergency department visits in just the past few years, following the rapid growth of online gambling in that province and the legalization of betting on single sports events.
‘Tip of the iceberg:’ More Ontarians with gambling disorders are showing up in emergency departments, study finds https://t.co/3yqZYzzvip
— CTV News Northern Ontario (@CTVNewsNorthern) September 16, 2026
