You've seen it. The ad in the middle of the video, the friend celebrating a "green," the influencer showing off the car. It looks easy. It feels like you're the only one who hasn't yet discovered the shortcut. But there's a reason so many people bet and almost no one gets rich: betting is built for the house to win. Always.
In Brazil, this has become a huge wave. According to a study by the Central Bank, in the first eight months of 2024 Brazilians moved between R$ 18 and R$ 21 billion per month on online betting through Pix alone, and about 24 million people placed bets in that period. Among younger people it's even stronger: a Datafolha survey showed that close to 30% of Brazilians aged 16 to 24 have already bet.
This text is not a sermon to load you with guilt. It's an honest conversation. About why betting hooks you, about what the Bible really says about easy money, and about how to help a friend who is already in deep. If that friend is you, keep reading calmly. There is a way out.
The betting epidemic: what's happening in Brazil
In just a few years, betting has become as common as scrolling the feed. Bets — short for betting — have invaded football halftimes, influencers' stories, and team jerseys. In 2023, Brazil passed a law to regulate this market (Law 14,790/2023), and the stricter regulation took effect on January 1, 2025. Regulating does not mean it became safe or advisable. It only means the government began to oversee it and collect taxes.
The scale of the problem is frightening. A Central Bank study found that, in the first eight months of 2024, Brazilians sent between R$ 18 and R$ 21 billion per month to betting houses through Pix alone, and about 24 million people bet during the period. Pix is the key piece: transferring money became instant, silent, and frictionless. You bet in seconds, without feeling the weight of taking money out of your wallet.
And young people are on the front line. A Datafolha survey showed that nearly a third of Brazilians aged 16 to 24 have already placed some kind of online bet, spending an average in the hundreds of reais per month. For a teenager who doesn't even have a fixed income yet, that's the snack, the transport, the Club gear disappearing on a screen. This is not some cranky adult's fuss. It is the largest transfer of money from poor young people to rich companies this country has ever seen.
Why betting seduces and addicts (it's not a lack of willpower)
If you think only "weak" people fall for it, you need to understand something: bets are designed by experts to trap you. It's not chance. It's engineering. The human brain releases dopamine — the substance of pleasure and anticipation — not when you win, but when you expect to win. The ball rolling, the scoreline about to flip, the "almost" that never came. That suspense is the fuel. The house knows this and sells suspense, not victory.
Add to that the tricks on the screen: vibrant colors, celebration sounds, the free welcome bet, the "you're one step away." There's even the near-miss effect — losing by a little activates the brain almost like winning, and pushes you to try again. And there's the illusion of control: you study the lineup, think you understand the game, feel it's skill. But the outcome is set so that, in the final tally, the house profits. Always. If it didn't profit, it wouldn't exist.
Here's the serious point: betting too much stopped being just a bad habit and came to be recognized as a disorder. The World Health Organization, in the ICD-11 classification, and the American Psychiatric Association, in the DSM-5 manual, recognize Gambling Disorder (so-called gambling addiction) as a behavioral dependence — a close relative of drug addiction. In other words: someone stuck in this cycle is not shameless. They are someone who needs help, not a finger in their face.
What the Bible says about easy money and greed
The Bible has no verse that says "don't use bets" — bets didn't exist. But it speaks with striking clarity about the root of the problem: the rush to get rich and the love of money. Paul writes to Timothy: "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:9-10, NIV). Read it again. A trap. Ruin. It's almost a description of how a betting app works.
Proverbs contrasts the two paths directly: "Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow" (Proverbs 13:11, NIV). The promise of betting is the opposite of God's plan. God values the little by little, honest work, patient building. Betting sells the shortcut — and the shortcut, in practice, empties the wallet and the soul. It's no wonder that almost no one who bets heavily gets rich; the overwhelming majority grow poorer.
Jesus went even deeper. He warned: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions" (Luke 12:15, NIV). Betting teaches you the opposite: that your life would improve if you just had more, more, more. It's an old lie in new clothes. The antidote is also old: contentment. "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5, NIV). Whoever rests in that promise doesn't need to gamble their peace on a roulette wheel.
Read alsoSelf-control: the self-mastery that comes from GodStewardship and temperance: caring for what God entrusted
For the Christian, money isn't only yours — it's something God placed in your hands for you to manage well. That's called stewardship. When you play the bets, you're not "spending what's yours." You're handing over to a company what could support your family, fund your studies, bless your Club, or help someone in need. Money has a destination. Betting steals that destination and gives nothing back.
Here enters a value the Pathfinder Club takes seriously: temperance. Temperance isn't about being a killjoy. It's having self-control — saying no to what enslaves and yes to what strengthens. It's the same principle that guides the Adventist stance toward cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs: protecting the body and mind from everything that addicts and diminishes you. Betting fits exactly on that list, because it grips the mind and drains life. Not because it's a "fun sin," but because it's a chain disguised as fun.
The young person who learns temperance early gains a huge advantage for their whole life: they know how to recognize a trap before falling into it. Working on temperance in the Club — in frank conversations, in the Temperance Honor, in the leaders' example — is vaccinating the crew against an industry that invests millions to hook exactly this age group.
Learn about the Temperance Honor and how it can become a real conversation in your Unit.
Signs that betting has become an addiction
Not everyone who has ever bet is addicted. But there's a line, and it's usually crossed without the person noticing. Watch for these signs in yourself or a friend. They almost never appear alone:
| Sign | How it shows up day to day |
|---|---|
| Loss of control | Promises to stop, but goes back to betting the same day |
| Escape | Bets to avoid thinking about problems, sadness, or boredom |
| Chasing losses | Loses and bets more to "recover," digging a bigger hole |
| Lying and secrecy | Hides how much they spend; money vanishes without explanation |
| Debt | Borrows money or sells things to bet |
| Isolation | Pulls away from the Club, friends, and family; unstable mood |
If you recognized several of these points, it doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you someone who fell into a well-built trap — like millions of others. And the good news is that a trap has a way out. The first step is the hardest and the most courageous: admitting out loud, to someone you trust, that you've lost control.
How to help a friend (and get out yourself)
If a friend from the Club is trapped in betting, the worst thing you can do is humiliate them. Shame pushes the person into more secrecy, and secrecy is the fuel of addiction. What helps is the opposite: getting close, without judging, and saying that you noticed and that you care. "I saw you've been betting a lot. I'm not here to scold you. I'm here because you're my friend and I care." That sentence opens doors that a sermon closes.
After listening, help with concrete steps, not vague promises. Suggest uninstalling the apps together, right then and there. Encourage blocking notifications and telling a trusted adult — a father, mother, Counselor, or Director. Propose activities that fill the time and the money that were going to the screen. And pray with them, if they let you. Not as a ritual, but as someone handing to the Father a burden that can't be carried alone.
There is also professional and free help. Cases of gambling addiction can and should be treated with psychological support; in Brazil, the public health system (SUS) offers care through the CAPS (Psychosocial Care Centers). If there is a risk to life or a serious crisis, your local emergency number (in Brazil, SAMU 192) and the CVV (188, free call, 24 hours) are available. This text is awareness, not treatment — the role of the friend and the Club is to welcome and point the way, not to play therapist.
If the one who needs support is you: your Club's Counselor exists precisely for that. See how a good Counselor walks alongside someone going through something hard.
Healthy alternatives: where to invest your adrenaline
Betting promises excitement, reward, and belonging — the feeling of being part of something. The problem isn't wanting those things; it's seeking them in a place that charges dearly and delivers nothing. The good news is that the Club offers all of this for real, without draining your account. That urge to "bet it all" has a much better address.
Want real adrenaline? There's the pioneering monkey bridge, the rappel descent, the long trail, camping in the rain. Want achievement? Every completed Honor, every advanced Class, every knot that finally comes out perfect gives you a "green" no one can take away — because it's your own skill, built with effort. Want belonging? The Unit, the campfire, the war cry, the friends who become siblings. That's a reward that grows over time, instead of vanishing in a cash-out.
Do an honest test for thirty days: every real and every hour that would go to betting, redirect it to a concrete goal — a trip, an instrument, a course, the next camporee. At the end of the month, look at what's left in your hands. Betting leaves a hole; building leaves fruit. That's the little by little of Proverbs: slow, honest, and growing more and more.