sam callahan said:

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Quote:

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I have relative success in betting, mainly I actually win more than I lose

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just curious - do the college kids you help do as well?

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Sometimes they do as well…we mainly talk about games…I move them away from games that aren't good…sometimes they were right, but those games, at least in my mind, were crapshoots…I try to steer them away from bad games…but I do listen when they have watched or know about teams in a game that I am not as familiar with.

Luigi Vampa said:

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I've been addicted to sports betting to a point where it had very serious and real consequences in my personal life. Ive been free of the curse for nearly 11 years now, but it took my to some very very dark places. Online sports betting is one of the worst things out there for society and it makes me sick seeing "reputable" companies like ESPN jumping in to the money grab head first fully aware of the negative consequences it has on society.

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No different than drugs and alcohol…everyone has a choice…not saying I disagree that if you have an addictive personality that gambling, like drugs and alcohol, can take control of your life…whether ESPN or any other media chooses to get paid to advertise it means little, because they will advertise liquor/beer, and we want to get deep pharmaceutical drugs, some of which are addictive.

I knew sports betting was getting ridiculous, but it jumped the shark when there were odds for whether or not Angel Reese would miss her first shot of a game. Or worse, what color the dildo thrown on the court at WNBA games would be.

I have gambled on sports my entire adulthood. In the may 90s we had a bookie at A&M. Fortunately I have always been able to control it and never lost more than a couple of hundred dollars in a year.

But my son is 14 and he and his friends constantly talk about betting lines, over under, who is hurt, what the weather is like, even time zones traveled. They constantly have some bet going between them in fantasy or whatever. It bothers me a lot how open and accepted it is even at their school. Totally different than when I was a kid.

Sports gambling and frivolous gambling in general has never appealed to me or entertained me.

Bitcoin is not gambling. I've made about $350k off of Bitcoin in the last couple of years.

According to the social media, Gen Z DOES use RainBet a lot.

now kalshi and polymarket are going all in on this trend to make it so you can bet on literally anything, and flooding the zone with lobbying and ad dollars to get people hooked and keep it legal.

I fully expect the pendulum will swing hard in the other direction to the point we outlaw this again, all because this industry just couldn't help recklessly diving into the gold rush.

techno-ag said:

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Polymarket lets users bet on elections and all kinds of things, where legal. Online casinos now advertise a lot.

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Dang grandpa, I'm not using polymarket to gamble, I'm just hedging my risk in case my calls on the triple leveraged SP500 ETF go sideways.

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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techno-ag said:

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Polymarket lets users bet on elections and all kinds of things, where legal. Online casinos now advertise a lot.

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Dang grandpa, I'm not using polymarket to gamble, I'm just hedging my risk in case my calls on the triple leveraged SP500 ETF go sideways.

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Yeah Grandpa would likely understand the reference to 3x ETFs. But he'd probably try to steer the kid toward stock options rather than PolyMarket.

This thread brought to you by:

DraftKings

It really is terrible when just about every single sports app/sports broadcast/podcast is sponsored by sports betting companies. It makes it even worse when there becomes questions about calls (referee calls, coaching calls, player actions) and the oversight entity basically turns a blind eye towards it.

The problem isnt gambling, its self discipline.

Same with drugs, fast food, pron etc. Start avoiding it, and over time its no longer hard to avoid.

Gambling is being openly promoted on regular TV commercials. That's new

Ive never been around anyone who's gambled more than they can afford to lose. $20 here. $5 on a 200x. My wife and adults kids put a $10 prize picks lineup on a Sunday Night football game. It makes the night fun. I dont see ourselves putting down $1000s of dollars on a single game. And I will never see ourselves do that.

The key is promotion.

The content your kids are consuming isn't geared towards the promotion of binge drinking, smoking or watching porn. For drinking and smoking, even if the promotion was allowed there's still significant gate-keeping in that it's not something they can just "consume" via mobile device.

Many of us as 8 year-olds used to worship Sportscenter. That same Sportscenter is now nearly 75% gambling-centric. Multiple segments, 24/7 ticker with odds, FanDuel ads. And much of it they can access via the device in their pocket that most now have.

The act of gambling itself is fine - if people want to piss away $1000 a month because they think they've got an edge on the USC/UCLA game because they saw a few highlights of the Trojans RB and he's really good, so be it.

But as another poster mention - for young boys its now a common discussion. That's not good.

Jeeper79 said:

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I haven't figured how yet, but somehow this is boomers' fault.

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I bet you are right.

TexasAggiesWin said:

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This thread brought to you by:

DraftKings

It really is terrible when just about every single sports app/sports broadcast/podcast is sponsored by sports betting companies. It makes it even worse when there becomes questions about calls (referee calls, coaching calls, player actions) and the oversight entity basically turns a blind eye towards it.

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Hell even movie centric podcasts I listen to are brought to you by betting sites

UTExan said:

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Check your ROI from a decently managed portfolio and you will get the dopamine hit. Use an online investment calculator and plug in conservative numbers over 30 years and get a really good dopamine hit.

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Agreed. People don't like getting rich slowly.

I think one issue is being able to bet with your phone. Not having to physically take cash out of your wallet and hand it over makes the whole experience more like the games people play, as opposed to driving home the reality of what you're doing.

I live in Arizona. Sports gambling is legal. No way will I get an account that allows me to gamble from my phone. I'd screw that up in no time.

I don't bet often, but on occasion, I feel like it. When I do, I walk into the sportsbook and actually have to hand over cash. It really sinks in that I'm potentially pissing away a round of golf on a bunch of 18-21 year old kids playing a game.

Gator92 said:

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NFL and CFB love it.

It drives ratings to a demo long ignored...

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absolutely!

The hypothesis/strategy in present media:

"Men, whites in particular, will put up with our diversity gaslighting in live sports and ads shown during sports if we entice them with getting rich quick via sports betting."

There are "conservative" politicians in Texas that want to bring more gaming to Texas. It's ruinous to families.

I don't get how people get addicted to gambling. When I travel to states that have legalized gaming, I'll indulge in it, but only with $100 max. When I inevitably lose that $100 I want to blow my brains out

Moe Jzyslak said:

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I don't get how people get addicted to gambling. When I travel to states that have legalized gaming, I'll indulge in it, but only with $100 max. When I inevitably lose that $100 I want to blow my brains out

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Ah, its easy to stop when you LOSE. The problem is with those that are lucky. They win, so they go try to win again. The few times I gamble I set a number willing to lose, and also a "win number" that will be taken as "if get that, its already more than expected so getting out then"

Boomers had to go to Vegas, the boats, winstar, or the local bookie to be a degenerate.

They just jealous we can do it from an iPhone.

Moe Jzyslak said:

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I don't get how people get addicted to gambling. When I travel to states that have legalized gaming, I'll indulge in it, but only with $100 max. When I inevitably lose that $100 I want to blow my brains out

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I am a mentor with the united Way in our local chapter. We run financial education classes and mentor people on budgets and parge purchases, not financial advising. Anyways, I have a young man in my current crop that got a large settlement ($150K) from an accident a few years back. He lost every cent to online gambling and buying a new truck. He has a bright future as he is a last year electrical apprentice, but the weight he carries knowing that he lost life changing money is something I never want to endure. We discussed how he lost it and it came down to he hit it big on a few bets and then kept chasing that rush until it all ran out.

Rapier108 said:

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Probably 80% of the ads I see on any app, and even a good number on TV now, are all for online casinos and/or sports betting. Chumba casino outnumbers all of them by far.

And I've never gambled in my life, other than the occasional lottery ticket when the jackpot is crazy high like it is right now.

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Au contrere, mon frer. We gamble every time we buy insurance.

agsalaska said:

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I have gambled on sports my entire adulthood. In the may 90s we had a bookie at A&M. Fortunately I have always been able to control it and never lost more than a couple of hundred dollars in a year.

But my son is 14 and he and his friends constantly talk about betting lines, over under, who is hurt, what the weather is like, even time zones traveled. They constantly have some bet going between them in fantasy or whatever. It bothers me a lot how open and accepted it is even at their school. Totally different than when I was a kid.

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My daughter is drum major in her high school band. Even the band nerds that don't care about football have a NFL fantasy league. It is surreal.

Proposition Joe said:

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The key is promotion.

The content your kids are consuming isn't geared towards the promotion of binge drinking, smoking or watching porn. For drinking and smoking, even if the promotion was allowed there's still significant gate-keeping in that it's not something they can just "consume" via mobile device.

Many of us as 8 year-olds used to worship Sportscenter. That same Sportscenter is now nearly 75% gambling-centric. Multiple segments, 24/7 ticker with odds, FanDuel ads. And much of it they can access via the device in their pocket that most now have.

The act of gambling itself is fine - if people want to piss away $1000 a month because they think they've got an edge on the USC/UCLA game because they saw a few highlights of the Trojans RB and he's really good, so be it.

But as another poster mention - for young boys its now a common discussion. That's not good.

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Gambling is a vice according to virtually every religious and moral frame. In recent years we have seen an insane deregulation of gambling. It is ruinous to lives, like all vices, and we should not be promoting it as a country.

And I am saying this as a dude that goes to Vegas every year.

Rubicante said:

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When they're kids they played apps that had gambling mechanics for the prizes they won, often resembling a slot machine or a similar chance mechanic.

When they were teens they played first person shooters with "loot boxes" that had a rare chance to contain items that others would pay $100s or even $1000s for.

They watch twitch and kick streamers that do 8-hour long gambling streams.

Their entire upbringing has consisted of gambling being as present in their life as anything else. I won't be surprised when Bank of America introduces a new rewards card where every 1,000 points lets you roll on a chance for cash prizes.

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I have a Robinhood gold CC and they let you use points that equal cash to open a mystery box that "may" have better rewards. Not clicking that personally but it plays into this whole debate. In general, great card as you get 3% cash back on literally everything/every purchase. Just don't gamble the rewards away.

Burdizzo said:

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agsalaska said:

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I have gambled on sports my entire adulthood. In the may 90s we had a bookie at A&M. Fortunately I have always been able to control it and never lost more than a couple of hundred dollars in a year.

But my son is 14 and he and his friends constantly talk about betting lines, over under, who is hurt, what the weather is like, even time zones traveled. They constantly have some bet going between them in fantasy or whatever. It bothers me a lot how open and accepted it is even at their school. Totally different than when I was a kid.

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My daughter is drum major in her high school band. Even the band nerds that don't care about football have a NFL fantasy league. It is surreal.

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OH yes, don't touch NFL fantasy league. That is everywhere. Even among fields and types you would not expect to be into it. It can be hilarious.

Yeah, I get enough of this from Fantasy Football which is a total gamble week to week on who is going to perform. FF makes me insane enough that it's all I can take with any kind of gambling.

Gambling/prop bets need suckers!

Millennials and Gen Z are accused of treating finance like a game. They trade options, buy meme coins, play prediction markets and bet on sports as if the entire economy were a casino. The criticism usually ends there, with a finger wag and a head shake.

Baby boomers and members of Gen X say this is reckless, solid proof that social media has gamified money. But this misunderstands the mindsets of today's young people. What seems like recklessness to parents and grandparents is actually a worrisome form of economic adaptation.

It's known as financial nihilism, a term coined by podcaster Demetri Kofinas several years ago, and it describes the sense that the economic system no longer rewards prudence or long-term planning.

When every conventional path narrows, people start to look for alternatives. And in practice, that has meant turning toward the few places where a real upside still appears possible, even if the risks are high. In this environment, prediction markets, sports betting and cryptocurrency start to look like some of the only levers they have left. Nearly two-thirds of Gen Z and Millennials think that the only way to build wealth today is through alternative methods like gambling and crypto, according to the Harris Poll.

A U.S. survey from Gemini, a major cryptocurrency exchange, found that nearly half of Gen Z investors own cryptocurrency. A separate study from the CFA Institute found that American Gen Z investors hold a median amount of $1,000 in crypto, a quarter of their median total investment portfolio of $4,000.

Sports betting tells the same story31% of 18- to 34-year-olds have an account with an online sports book, and 32% of those with an account bet three or more times a week, according to a 2024 Siena College/St. Bonaventure survey. Thirty percent of that same age group has bet more than $500 or more in one day.

Younger adults are consistently searching for returns in a system that offers them few traditional ones. And these platforms, from crypto exchanges to betting apps, benefit enormously from that search since their profit is built on top of the very volatility that young people are trying to navigate.

Why My Generation Is Turning to 'Financial Nihilism' - WSJ

The crypto market is going to be a blood bath for many.

I am a younger millennial and grateful every day for the 3 older men at my first job who told me to do the company match (company gave 3% regardless and matched 75% of 8%)

They would not let me leave work that first day until I matched

This guy is an A&M grad (Chem Eng major if I recall) who has made a successful career exposing crypto scams. And about a month ago he did this 30-minute segment on the same sports gambling topic that is the subject of this thread.

An interesting thing he mentioned is these sites like FanDuel and DraftKings, if you start winning too much then they will start putting limits on the size of your bets. The successful gambler stories they promote for marketing are the same gambler scenarios that they put controls in place to prevent from happening.