I love sports betting. When I was in college, I argued that there was not one good reason for having sports betting illegal. If people want to bet, why not let them? It’s our money! Let us bet!
10 years later and everything has changed. Sports betting is now legal and I wish it weren’t. Hearing Fanduel and Draftkings advertisements makes my blood boil. They’re making so much money off the masses that they can afford countless ads offering a million dollars in free bets to every man, woman, or dog who wants to sign up. They are leaches sucking the life blood out of the middle class.
That’s an exaggeration. But they’re clearly making a shitload off of people who wouldn’t typically sports bet but are now betting because of how accessible it is, the millions of ads / offers, and the FOMO that comes with friends betting on a game that you don’t have money on.
Ironically, I’ve sports bet less in the last 12 months than probably any year since high school. I’ve essentially boycotted sports betting because I hate the idea of empowering Fanduel / Draftkings. I would happily lose a thousand dollars annually to a bookie just for entertainment; but losing it to the big corporations who have taken over and abuse stupid people makes me so upset that I don’t gamble at all anymore.
I don’t recycle in my apartment, I put all plastic in the trash because I don’t have a recycling bin.
I believe in clean oceans, but I saw a stat about the amount of global plastic waste that was contributed by major corporations and it was staggering. It left me hopeless. Every individual in America could recycle 100% and it wouldn’t matter. The companies have to change.
It’s tough to land this plane, but I’m comparing recycling and sports betting. Specifically:
Not Sports Betting = Recycling
Not sports betting makes me feel good about my impact, as does recycling. But it doesn’t make a difference. The big companies will continue to pollute the world whether I recycle or not. Fanduel will keep pwning the common person until they wise up and realize sports betting is a ‘waste’.
The counter argument is that the ‘people’ actually can impact Fanduel by not betting, whereas we cannot impact ExxonMobil quite as directly. But I have a feeling I won’t be able to convince many people to join my boycott.
So, on an individual level, do I enjoy sports betting even if I lose? Yes.
Is this the return of the lock of the week? It just might be. Unless anyone has a good bookie they want to refer me to…
I agree on both fronts.
Personally not a gambler (maybe like a $5 soccer wager with my dad here or there) but think it’s absolutely absurd anyone who wants to ban sports books. We’re all adults and have to take some ownership in our decisions. Maybe I could understand if some states want to add a small vice tax (a few %) but outright banning is bs
Hot take – people only recycle (myself included) to feel good about themselves. Nobody actually looks into the “good” they are doing by recycling. Like donating $1k to some eco charity probably has a bigger impact than personally recycling for 10 years yet you’d be perceived as a monster if you donated instead of recycled.
I don’t think it should be illegal, I just envisioned something different when I was advocating for it to be legal. I figured the people who were gambling illegally would just start doing it legally and everyone else would chill. But instead everyone is getting sucked in and the companies are doing everything they can to get not-smart sports bettors signed up. I actually like Dave’s idea. No ads allowed.
I’m still waiting for the NYT piece or something saying that 90% of Fanduel users never cash out a single dollar. It’s a perception thing. People think they have a fair shot at winning, which technically they do, but no one does. Once people realize the rich white dudes are getting rich off their money, they’ll stop!
I agree with Sam. Sports betting, and, I think even worse, on-line casino betting. For the most part, sports bets take a while. Someone playing a slot machine can lose a bunch in no time. People that can’t afford it are losing millions. This all started with lottery tickets. People living paycheck to paycheck are spending their money on the lottery. For many, the lottery is their retirement plan. But, I am a sports/casino non-gambler. I’ve made over $600 betting on the “sure things” that these companies use to sucker in all the losers.
I would’ve put the over / under on how much you’ve made on the ‘sure things’ at around $250, so nice job there. Is it sitting in your account in case you get good intel on a game and want to wager it all or did you cash it out?
Stop the gambling ads, so many of them. Just ban them like the cigarette ads. They will realize their mistake when all of today’s youth are addicted to gambling and insurance companies!
On another note, won $400 last night on that UNC / Kansas game. Live line was UNC +7.5 after Kansas came out on a 5 pt run. Hammered it and was spending my money at halftime.
Sam, I do cash out, but I always leave $30. I use 3 sites. My Draftkings account alone shows I won $387. And, I also hit big last night. I took Kansas + 8.5 at half time. Won 40 cents.