I don't gamble, it has no appeal to me. It doesn't make sense to me, the math is always stacked against you. The only "gambling" I do is buy raffle tickets for local fund raisers. The odds are much much better and the money is going to a good cause regardless of me winning something or not.

How common is sports betting among the Kottke community?

I'm 100% with you re: the math is just against you. What is fun about putting money into something, then more than likely Not getting it back? Even when I "win" it feels weird - like, I didn't do anything to deserve this. But I'm very risk averse.

Some of the research linking sports gambling, upsets and domestic violence is terrifying. This isn’t a vice that operates in a silo, and the extent to which it’s everywhere right now is not good.

What a profoundly sad story. The author catalogues the many ways gambling messed with his mental health and harmed his relationships with his family and friends while he lost $10,000. Just imagine if you spent that $10,000 on making your life better instead ...

This parallels the recently released Vice documentary. We just discussed that in my Criticism in Sports Media class. It was an eye opener for several students.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9UgkQUCz-pQ

I'm also a rather hardcore non-gambler. $20 in lottery tickets over 40+ years of adulthood, a few March Madness brackets, and, if we're being picky, various raffles at events (although those are more like donations that may result in a gift). Spent a weekend in Vegas a few years ago and didn't wager *anything*. I never even understood sports odds (I still don't, and don't care to learn), which sliced out a whole realm of conversation as a teen (not that I minded lol).

But I also know I'm definitely in the minority. And the proliferation of online betting absolutely sickens and depresses me.

Count me in with the never-gamblers. I had a job as a cashier in a small grocery where I grew up and was warned about one regular customer who came in at least ten times a day to buy scratch tickets. He rarely got anything greater than $10 despite spending over a hundred dollars each day. My 17 year old self took this to heart. Thank you Massachusetts scratcher Man!

I enjoy playing poker, usually with friends but occasionally in casinos. When I play in casinos I always have a set limit and never exceed it. And poker pits you against your fellow players, rather than against the house. I’ve never wagered a dollar on any other casino game. Never played a slot machine. And I’ve never had the slightest interest in gambling with bookmakers. The legalization of sports books is a corrosive element in society, and a sickening accelerator of wealth transfer from the poor to the rich. We were much better off when the people who liked to bet had to do so through clandestine, illegal bookmakers. Now you can gamble yourself and your family into poverty from your smartphone. And rest assured many people do.

"McKay Coppins" was genuinely the very very last byline I expected when I saw that headline.

He brings up a lot of good points in this article. I've been annoyed by all the sports betting discussion, advertising, and sponsorship for a long time. One of the things he mentions that worries me most is the effect on the players; a player like Trey Yesavage can defy expectations and then find himself and his family under threat from the gamblers who lost money because they outperformed (or underperformed). Isn't this why we watch sports -- to see people doing extraordinary things? The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat -- not "you lost my money, go to hell"?

Another interesting point he makes is the gender gap, which is unsurprising to me for many reasons. I had profs in my MBA program make the argument that women are just less risk-tolerant, without thinking about *why*. After years working in financial services, I'm keenly aware that women are more likely to be running the household finances. And when you know what the money could buy, I posit you're less likely to throw it away when you know the odds are stacked against you.

My grandmother, in her comfortable retirement, did enjoy going with friends to the riverboat casinos and horse races, and taking us along and giving us money to lose. She also had a certain amount of money with their investment advisor to try investing in higher risk stocks on her own. But she was always clear that she was spending money that she could lose. She's nearly 100 now, and visiting over the holidays she pulled out her decades-old penny stash to use while we played Tripoley. Whenever someone was down, someone else would top them up to keep the game going. Because it was about the fun. What ever happened to that? Gambling seems to have killed it.

I'm not going to lie, I like a bit of gambling. I particularly enjoy Blackjack. It's fun to win some money, for sure. It's also fun to hang out at the blackjack table. The people are from everywhere, and there's a real camaraderie at the table. Importantly, if anyone is a bit of a jerk, people just slowly get up and walk away.

As to sports betting, it's never done it for me, although I suspect that's mostly because I'm bad it. My friends who bet sports - prop bets, pools, games - really have the same sort of fun I do playing cards.

It is pretty nasty for those who can't manage. It reminds me of alcohol or marijuana, I think.

Handful of close friends are all regulars in the betting apps. Like the early days of alcoholism, it’s harmless and fun to start but it just gets worse. They can’t watch a game without putting money on it, more irritable, etc. I’ll throw in for the annual fantasy pool with them as it’s fun but I feel a little wrong about it, like I’m bringing bottles to friends’ houses that don’t need more bottles around.

Addiction is a disease that too often appears like it’s a choice. Will there be surgeon general warnings and class action lawsuits eventually?

The need to get wealthier--the primary ethos since the 80s, now worse than ever as basic living expenses go up at higher rates than wages; the greater need for dopamine hits; and the need for new things to boast about on social media equals a decadent nation in decline.
I could go on but why...

Anyway, I cannot imagine a more toxic soup than a culture of white patriarchical dominance, unregulated gambling, legitimatizing prediction markets, historic economic inequality, and climate anxiety. Truly.