What do you think of this Atlantic article?

[pinchingyourballs]

Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake

paywall bypass: https://archive.ph/FeAy9

[The Boz]

Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake

paywall bypass: https://archive.ph/FeAy9

I argue for most of the new books and customers aren’t gambling, they are buying lottery tickets. And I’m 100% serious about this because they are betting long shot prop parlays and justify it as “only” $10 or $20 a bet. And that’s exactly what the DraftKings and FanDuels of the world want. They do want to single game wagers and actually limit anyone who wins on straight bets with them over time. Watch a pregame show and what are they pushing? 3 leg prop parlays. Pure garbage.

If you believe people are idiots overall, who couldn’t have seen this problem coming?

[DGenBen]

I think that this one quote from the article:

“Gambling addiction has been connected to anxiety, depression, and even suicide.”

could be used as a mad lib. Substitute any person, place or thing for gambling addiction.

I.e. Marriage, Cleveland Ohio, ZenKing, etc. has been connected to anxiety, depression & even suicide.

But we’re not going to ban every person, place, or thing in existence, so why would we ban sports betting when the personality types who have issues with it are just going to move onto the next thing they can find that causes them anxiety, depression, & suicide anyway?

Plus is thinning out the weakest of the herd a bad thing?

Walk into any Walmart & ponder about that after people watching for a long while.

[smurgerburger]

Didn't read the article but yes, gambling is bad.

"Mistake" seems to be rather exculpatory.

[pinchingyourballs]

Everything the article says about sports betting could be said about any other form of gambling. Many of the states that have moved to online lottery play have also introduced these slot machine like instant win type games you can play through their state lottery apps, which are equally as "bad" as online sports betting if you ask me. But predatory state lotteries don't get as much bad press.

[DGenBen]

Eventually they are just going to make everyone wear spacesuits & pipe in happy music and display pretty pictures on a screen.

That way no one will ever get harmed by anything anymore.

[theywontpayontuesday]

I know someone who lost enough last Sunday to essentially have lost a house as it was in the smaller range of hundreds of thousands of dollars. They didn't lose their house, just enough to buy a decent house in a low crime, good education neighborhood. Just about the only good thing about this is the legal sports books don't offer credit like illegal bookies do,but I'm sure to this person the loss is life changing to his detriment.

[The Boz]

I know someone who lost enough last Sunday to essentially have lost a house as it was in the smaller range of hundreds of thousands of dollars. They didn't lose their house, just enough to buy a decent house in a low crime, good education neighborhood. Just about the only good thing about this is the legal sports books don't offer credit like illegal bookies do,but I'm sure to this person the loss is life changing to his detriment.

Who cares? Obviously he had the money to risk.

Like you said, he didn’t bet on credit.

And like he told his wife when he couldn’t fuck her….sex after winning can’t match that high….and sex after losing still feels like shit….so go fuck my book and get me some free bets.

[pinchingyourballs]

I know someone who lost enough last Sunday to essentially have lost a house as it was in the smaller range of hundreds of thousands of dollars. They didn't lose their house, just enough to buy a decent house in a low crime, good education neighborhood. Just about the only good thing about this is the legal sports books don't offer credit like illegal bookies do,but I'm sure to this person the loss is life changing to his detriment.

Too bad, so sad. The person who wrote the Atlantic article would probably say that sportsbook operators should verify assets and income before allowing someone to bet that much. More nanny state intervention.