The new 24-hour help line was set up on April 28 and so far about 20-30 people ring in per day. The service is a cooperative effort between Sanderud Hospital and the Lottery Commission.

Traffic on the hotline has been higher than expected, and preliminary estimates set 20,000 as a likely number of gambling addicts in Norway.

With many callers under 13, some of them with habits of betting NOK 4,000-5,000 (USD 580-725) per month, a surprisingly serious problem may have been brought to light.

"They (the children) talk about personal problems, depression, and always being penniless. Their gambling addiction isolates them, and when they call us they do it secretly, so that their parents shouldn't know," said Thore Paulsen, daily manager of the hotline.

Paulsen said that these children were very evasive when asked where they find the money to support their compulsion.

Atle Hamar of the Lottery Commission is less surprised, and claimed that studies indicate that 3.2 percent of those between the ages of 11 and 19 have a serious addiction to gambling.

But despite the positive step of a crisis hotline, kids who are compulsive gamblers have a hard time getting real help. Now organizations are hoping that the Minister of Health will start to concentrate on the problem.

The average problem gambler is an adult male, with an estimated 75 percent of addicts falling into this category.