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🎲 Gambling with our lives

This is no secret — I’m pretty (rationally) optimistic about most things, but I won’t lie to you, when the Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that states could legalize sports gambling, I had a bad feeling.

Looks like my bad feeling was a premonition 😰👇

Breaking down this great post, I think the best way to think about this is that “in 30 states, as well as DC and Puerto Rico, everyone over the age of 21 is effectively walking around with a mini sports casino in their pocket.”

That’s right — placing a bet (as many other things) is now as easy as tapping a button on your phone. No friction, no barriers. Just you and them sweet odds!

But what’s the largest group of people paying the biggest price for this easy access? Low-income men.

Now that may make you roll your eyes. “Men?? Who cares???” We should all care!

Thanks to new data from millions of households and bank accounts, we can now see that when a state legalizes sports betting, people don’t just lose money — they lose their financial footing.

We’re talking lower credit scores, more debt, and less investment in things that could actually improve their lives, like index funds:

This is not just a U.S. problem either.

Like many things (violent crime, alcohol consumption, etc.), in sports gambling, it’s a small group (the “whales”) that drives the majority of the transactions.

Take New Jersey, for example — “5% of bettors place nearly 50% of the bets and 70% of the money. Gambling sites’ profits come from extracting losses from those bettors — just like a casino.”

We see these same patterns in state lotteries, which have been around forever, BUT 
(1) we already should push for state lotteries to be reeled back for these reasons, and
(2) at least you have to drag yourself to the store to buy a ticket. But online sports betting? No need.

But this doesn’t mean we should just throw up our hands and say “Oh well!”

The number of gambling addicts in the U.S. is estimated to be over 7 million. That’s a LOT of people. For context, about the same number of people suffer from Alzheimer’s in this country.

So, what can we do?

1. Try and get that friend you know to chill tf out with his DraftKings - you’ll never hit it big, Johnny! It doesn’t matter how big your parlay is!!!
   

2. On a broader level, here are a few legal changes we should push for, as mentioned in the earlier post:

• Ban gambling advertisements during sports broadcasts

• Ban bookmakers (the betting organizations) from accepting more than five deposits from a customer within 24 hours or accepting deposits via credit card

• Prohibit the use of AI to offer individualized promotions to bettors

• Authorize research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on the effects of gambling addiction

I feel like there’s a lesson here from shows like Squid Game or the antics of YouTubers, like Mr. Beast:

It’s pretty damn predatory for companies to build their business models around your fantasy of hitting it big, or worse, your desperation to pay off your debts.

Still curious?

• Here’s the full post from the blog, Slow Boring

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Zach

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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or recommendation for any investment. The Content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.