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OT: Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake (Atlantic)

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NUCat320

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Dec 4, 2005
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We all agree that there are too many d*mn sports gambling ads, but also, the evidence is pretty clear that legalized gambling decreases savings, increases bankruptcies, and even increases domestic violence.

I’ve got several former colleagues who now work to make payments at one of the major online sports sites more frictionless; to me, it’s as bad as if they were working for Phillip Morris in the 90s.

Gross.

www.theatlantic.com

Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake

The evidence is convincing: The betting industry is ruining lives.
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
 
NUCat320 said:
We all agree that there are too many d*mn sports gambling ads, but also, the evidence is pretty clear that legalized gambling decreases savings, increases bankruptcies, and even increases domestic violence.

I’ve got several former colleagues who now work to make payments at one of the major online sports sites more frictionless; to me, it’s as bad as if they were working for Phillip Morris in the 90s.

Gross.

www.theatlantic.com

Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake

The evidence is convincing: The betting industry is ruining lives.
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
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It's disgusting. What I hate seeing too is the teams getting so involved in it. When I can bear it, I watch Cincinnati Reds games and every night they have some game parlay thing they do with one of the gambling companies. It's part of the broadcast and it makes me ill.

It's also so easy to gamble on these sites with your phone, so it's like social media on crack for young kids. It is soooo easy to get addicted. I just hate that our sports leagues are celebrating this.
 
NUCat320 said:
We all agree that there are too many d*mn sports gambling ads, but also, the evidence is pretty clear that legalized gambling decreases savings, increases bankruptcies, and even increases domestic violence.

I’ve got several former colleagues who now work to make payments at one of the major online sports sites more frictionless; to me, it’s as bad as if they were working for Phillip Morris in the 90s.

Gross.

www.theatlantic.com

Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake

The evidence is convincing: The betting industry is ruining lives.
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
Click to expand...
I gamble every single day and my savings haven’t decreased, I never filed BK, and have never committed any type of domestic violence.

You can’t put a full body condom over every element to society. People spend too much and get in serious debt without gambling. There are too many d*amn guns, yet they are prevalent in school shootings, people drink themselves to death, yet there is a liquor store around every corner, obese people die from heart failure because of poor eating habits, yet there is fast food chain on nearly every block. There is evidence that recreational pot leads some to harder drugs which lead to addiction.
 
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Disappointed to find out that IL went back to prohibiting action on state schools at brick & mortar locations effective 7/1. I was at Wrigley book room last Friday and wanted to pound the under on the Cats game.
 
TheC said:
It's disgusting. What I hate seeing too is the teams getting so involved in it. When I can bear it, I watch Cincinnati Reds games and every night they have some game parlay thing they do with one of the gambling companies. It's part of the broadcast and it makes me ill.

It's also so easy to gamble on these sites with your phone, so it's like social media on crack for young kids. It is soooo easy to get addicted. I just hate that our sports leagues are celebrating this.
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This was written back before the Tigers were the hottest team in baseball, but refers to exactly what you’re talking about.

Don’t gamble kids.

defector.com

How Often Would You Lose On 81 Tigers Same-Game Parlays Pushed By Bally Sports Detroit? | Defector

I resent how numb I've grown to the sports gambling ad blitz; what once felt jarring and intrusive now sort of washes over me. But in late April, about 20 games into the Tigers' season, I snapped out of my apathy and wondered if a single dumb FanDuel parlay promoted on the broadcast had ever hit.
defector.com defector.com
 
NUCat320 said:
This was written back before the Tigers were the hottest team in baseball, but refers to exactly what you’re talking about.

Don’t gamble kids.

defector.com

How Often Would You Lose On 81 Tigers Same-Game Parlays Pushed By Bally Sports Detroit? | Defector

I resent how numb I've grown to the sports gambling ad blitz; what once felt jarring and intrusive now sort of washes over me. But in late April, about 20 games into the Tigers' season, I snapped out of my apathy and wondered if a single dumb FanDuel parlay promoted on the broadcast had ever hit.
defector.com defector.com
Click to expand...
Don’t drink, don’t smoke, lay off the drugs, don’t spend money you don’t have, don’t shot your enemy, don’t eat too much fatty meats, wear your helmet when riding your bicycle, wear your seatbelt, don’t play football it causes CTE, don’t swim with the sharks, don’t vape, don’t bully, kids.
 
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Purple Pile Driver said:
Don’t drink, don’t smoke, lay off the drugs, don’t spend money you don’t have, don’t shot your enemy, don’t eat too much fatty meats, wear your helmet when riding your bicycle, wear your seatbelt, don’t play football it causes CTE, don’t swim with the sharks, don’t vape, don’t bully, kids.
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Don’t post about hazing scandals 🤣
 
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NUCat320 said:
We all agree that there are too many d*mn sports gambling ads, but also, the evidence is pretty clear that legalized gambling decreases savings, increases bankruptcies, and even increases domestic violence.

I’ve got several former colleagues who now work to make payments at one of the major online sports sites more frictionless; to me, it’s as bad as if they were working for Phillip Morris in the 90s.

Gross.

www.theatlantic.com

Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake

The evidence is convincing: The betting industry is ruining lives.
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
Click to expand...
Some people are problem gamblers. Some people are problem drinkers. Many many people are problem spenders.

This doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have the right to do any of those things responsibly and accept the consequences of doing so.
 
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AdamOnFirst said:
Some people are problem gamblers. Some people are problem drinkers. Many many people are problem spenders.

This doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have the right to do any of those things responsibly and accept the consequences of doing so.
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I think gambling is stupid. I think guns are incredibly stupid. I think smoking is stupid, whether it's tobacco or marijuana. However, I recognize not everyone agrees, so I am not a proponent for making everything illegal. What I do think is a reasonable compromise is to limit the marketing in the same way that we limit marketing of some of these other items. We allow our government to restrict tobacco and alcohol marketing, especially when we think it might target minors. Not sure why we can't limit the obscene marketing of gambling that we are seeing.
 
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What about the integrity of the games? Since it will be almost impossible to monitor every referee/umpire, player, manager/coach betting will be effecting the outcomes of the games. Just a matter of time if it hasn’t happened already.

We NU fans had a taste of gambling changing outcomes in the ‘90’s. Dennis Lundy was caught up in that affair.

He even admitted in 1993 after the Ohio State game at Dyche Stadium to running to the wrong hole on the two point conversion that would have tied the game with almost no time left.

Was that a mistake or intentional so as to keep his legs from getting broken?
 
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Purple Pile Driver said:
I gamble every single day and my savings haven’t decreased, I never filed BK, and have never committed any type of domestic violence.

You can’t put a full body condom over every element to society. People spend too much and get in serious debt without gambling. There are too many d*amn guns, yet they are prevalent in school shootings, people drink themselves to death, yet there is a liquor store around every corner, obese people die from heart failure because of poor eating habits, yet there is fast food chain on nearly every block. There is evidence that recreational pot leads some to harder drugs which lead to addiction.
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Yup.

In other words, some people do a good job of f*cking up their lives.
 
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fcmchi said:
What about the integrity of the games? Since it will be almost impossible to monitor every referee/umpire, player, manager/coach betting will be effecting the outcomes of the games. Just a matter of time if it hasn’t happened already.

We NU fans had a taste of gambling changing outcomes in the ‘90’s. Dennis Lundy was caught up in that affair.

He even admitted in 1993 after the Ohio State game at Dyche Stadium to running to the wrong hole on the two point conversion that would have tied the game with almost no time left.

Was that a mistake or intentional so as to keep his legs from getting broken?
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This is actually the biggest piece, in my opinion.

There will be a growing divide between college football players who make millions, and other members of the team who make nothing - they are sitting ducks. I know prohibiting bets on in-state college programs in Illinois may seem silly to some, but otherwise every Northwestern football player can be found in the directory, invited to Hecky's for a nice lunch and offered a seductive amount of money to shave points in a game.

Another side to restricting in-state betting - it, for the most part, protects our players from getting ruthlessly antagonized by some idiot in downtown Evanston who is mad he lost $20 on the game...or 50 idiots who think betting $5 gives them the right to sh*t on a 19 year old who misses a 47 yard field goal.
 
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We all agree that there are too many d*mn sports gambling ads, but also, the evidence is pretty clear that legalized gambling decreases savings, increases.
 
Purple Pile Driver said:
Don’t drink, don’t smoke, lay off the drugs, don’t spend money you don’t have, don’t shot your enemy, don’t eat too much fatty meats, wear your helmet when riding your bicycle, wear your seatbelt, don’t play football it causes CTE, don’t swim with the sharks, don’t vape, don’t bully, kids.
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I read your list of vices with interest, just to see how I'm doing.
Thank you for leaving "neighbor's wife" out of it.
 
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Gambling was fine when it was something you go to Vegas or Atlantic City to do. I remember how special it seemed when they legalized gambling in Deadwood. When it was something special then people would plan better for it.
 
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@AdamOnFirst , @Purple Pile Driver , were you avid gamblers prior to the launch of free, legal, online outlets?

I’ve had friends who regularly gambled through ‘their guy’ (I never investigated further), but it was mostly football Saturdays and Sundays, considered decisions, never spur of the moment. It was, say, part of the Friday afternoon routine. Weird, not my bag, but not particularly destructive or risky.


The primary problem with ‘the apps’ is that they’re so good at separating you from cash. Changing in-game odds, low-odd parlays, all built to make you feel good for making the bet, whether you win or not. So different from what it looked like ‘traditionally’.

I tend to come from the same place as @TheC*, where limitations on advertising, perhaps allowable bets per day, perhaps types of bets allowed on apps, would probably be good things.





*On most issues, I think I have a similar viewpoint to TheC, except that I don’t call for the OC, the DC, the Head Coach, the PA announcer, and the entire training and equipment management staff to be fired by the end of the first half. When the Cats are bad, it’s gallows humor for me only.
 
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Not against sports gambling, but I am against online gambling. It should be limited to in person only.

Also can't stand how betting has over taken sports media. I think there needs to be better public education about how these gambling companies are using predatory marketing to attract new customers including minors.
 
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fcmchi said:
What about the integrity of the games? Since it will be almost impossible to monitor every referee/umpire, player, manager/coach betting will be effecting the outcomes of the games. Just a matter of time if it hasn’t happened already.

We NU fans had a taste of gambling changing outcomes in the ‘90’s. Dennis Lundy was caught up in that affair.

He even admitted in 1993 after the Ohio State game at Dyche Stadium to running to the wrong hole on the two point conversion that would have tied the game with almost no time left.

Was that a mistake or intentional so as to keep his legs from getting broken?
Click to expand...
Yes, there will be another scandal. Has been fixing going on for over a century.
NUCat320 said:
@AdamOnFirst , @Purple Pile Driver , were you avid gamblers prior to the launch of free, legal, online outlets?

I’ve had friends who regularly gambled through ‘their guy’ (I never investigated further), but it was mostly football Saturdays and Sundays, considered decisions, never spur of the moment. It was, say, part of the Friday afternoon routine. Weird, not my bag, but not particularly destructive or risky.


The primary problem with ‘the apps’ is that they’re so good at separating you from cash. Changing in-game odds, low-odd parlays, all built to make you feel good for making the bet, whether you win or not. So different from what it looked like ‘traditionally’.

I tend to come from the same place as @TheC*, where limitations on advertising, perhaps allowable bets per day, perhaps types of bets allowed on apps, would probably be good things.





*On most issues, I think I have a similar viewpoint to TheC, except that I don’t call for the OC, the DC, the Head Coach, the PA announcer, and the entire training and equipment management staff to be fired by the end of the first half. When the Cats are bad, it’s gallows humor for me only.
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The vast majority of my current sports gambling consists of fantasy sports betting not actual game play. I am also far more likely to bet player props than individual games. The lines are too good to make money consistenly. However, I believe if you are good at analyzing individual player performance coupled with some basic knowledge of team trends you can win at fantasy and player props.

The key is I NEVER bet more than I can afford to lose and I NEVER chase a losing bet with some in game non sense. It’s a hobby to me not a ways to wealth.
 
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NUCat320 said:
@AdamOnFirst , @Purple Pile Driver , were you avid gamblers prior to the launch of free, legal, online outlets?

I’ve had friends who regularly gambled through ‘their guy’ (I never investigated further), but it was mostly football Saturdays and Sundays, considered decisions, never spur of the moment. It was, say, part of the Friday afternoon routine. Weird, not my bag, but not particularly destructive or risky.


The primary problem with ‘the apps’ is that they’re so good at separating you from cash. Changing in-game odds, low-odd parlays, all built to make you feel good for making the bet, whether you win or not. So different from what it looked like ‘traditionally’.

I tend to come from the same place as @TheC*, where limitations on advertising, perhaps allowable bets per day, perhaps types of bets allowed on apps, would probably be good things.





*On most issues, I think I have a similar viewpoint to TheC, except that I don’t call for the OC, the DC, the Head Coach, the PA announcer, and the entire training and equipment management staff to be fired by the end of the first half. When the Cats are bad, it’s gallows humor for me only.
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Yeah, but come on..... that PA announcer is terrible! Talk about clichés. And can that voice be any more annoying?? If they don't fire his ass by the end of the day, then we are not serious about playing winning football!!*


* I really have no idea if our PA announcer is terrible. I'm sure he's great.
 
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NUCat320 said:
@AdamOnFirst , @Purple Pile Driver , were you avid gamblers prior to the launch of free, legal, online outlets?

I’ve had friends who regularly gambled through ‘their guy’ (I never investigated further), but it was mostly football Saturdays and Sundays, considered decisions, never spur of the moment. It was, say, part of the Friday afternoon routine. Weird, not my bag, but not particularly destructive or risky.


The primary problem with ‘the apps’ is that they’re so good at separating you from cash. Changing in-game odds, low-odd parlays, all built to make you feel good for making the bet, whether you win or not. So different from what it looked like ‘traditionally’.

I tend to come from the same place as @TheC*, where limitations on advertising, perhaps allowable bets per day, perhaps types of bets allowed on apps, would probably be good things.





*On most issues, I think I have a similar viewpoint to TheC, except that I don’t call for the OC, the DC, the Head Coach, the PA announcer, and the entire training and equipment management staff to be fired by the end of the first half. When the Cats are bad, it’s gallows humor for me only.
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I wouldn't call myself an "avid" gambler. I love Vegas, which gambling is a solid part of, but my state still hasn't freaking legalized sports gambling so it's a pain in the ass to place wagers. I'll probably place a few a season once it's legalized. The casinos in my state also don't offer my favorite game so I almost never patronize them. I head to a neighboring state occasionally to sport gamble and play both of my favorite table games, but it's hard to find time with a family to do this too often.

I'll definitely be placing wagers consistently when gambling is legalized. Probably not on a weekly basis, but consistently throughout the season when I have a strong opinion about a particular game.

There are a million ways to seperate people from their money on their phone. You can buy freaking $40 purchases and groceries on freaking monthly payment plans of $10 each which then get charged to a credit card that even further delays your payment. People need to learn to control themselves, gambling is just another thing.
 
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fcmchi said:
If a student bookie out of Notre Dame was able to fix NU football and basketball games in the early ‘90’s, it will only get worse with the proliferation of legal gambling.
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That’s usually the exact opposite of how it works: legalizing something typically takes it out of the weird back alleys. Why would big corporation fix something and risk their billions of publicly traded dollars? It’s not some scrub trying to rub a few grand together in South Bend, it’s guys in corporate America with regulators up their ass.

There’s been one point shaving scandal in the NBA already and not only did it get sussed out fast, it’s laughable what a pointless exercise it was. The shavers and the player made a couple hundred thousand over a couple years shaving prop bets and the player gets banned for life from a league that pays millions a year on average. Ridiculous deal! Legal and regulated is usually FAR safer in almost every field.
 
AdamOnFirst said:
That’s usually the exact opposite of how it works: legalizing something typically takes it out of the weird back alleys. Why would big corporation fix something and risk their billions of publicly traded dollars? It’s not some scrub trying to rub a few grand together in South Bend, it’s guys in corporate America with regulators up their ass.

There’s been one point shaving scandal in the NBA already and not only did it get sussed out fast, it’s laughable what a pointless exercise it was. The shavers and the player made a couple hundred thousand over a couple years shaving prop bets and the player gets banned for life from a league that pays millions a year on average. Ridiculous deal! Legal and regulated is usually FAR safer in almost every field.
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I agree with you re the regulatory aspect. But the back door still exists: with legal marijuana there’s just as much illegal weed out there, it’s just cheaper. My betting friends still use their bookies.

And we’ll see games fixed and the game within the game fixed. With prop bets re balls and strikes, how easy will it be for a pitcher to tell his friends that the first pitch will be a ball?

The Marquee network said last year that they will run banner ads with info so betters can make prop bets.
 
Europe’s had sports betting for ages and it’s doing fine. Right now we’re like college kids away from home for the first time and being allowed to drink. It will even out.
 
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pnt16 said:
Not against sports gambling, but I am against online gambling. It should be limited to in person only.

Also can't stand how betting has over taken sports media. I think there needs to be better public education about how these gambling companies are using predatory marketing to attract new customers including minors.
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Like the vaping companies did?
 
Hey people want to gamble, that is their business. The major problem I have with it is that with so many folks doing it, you basically have to wonder about if the games are fixed. Everything is about profit and nothing more than profit. I basically dropped the NFL because of all the iffy calls being made, always at crucial moments that either sustained drives or killed them. Bad calls were somewhat rare 30 years ago, but now I would say around just below 40% are well, half assed calls. But then again, it would be masked by the reality that flags are indeed discretionary. Holding is indeed done on most plays, thus it is subjective on a ref calling it I wouldn't be surprised if the actual league could be involved in rigging games based on algorithms that predict what outcome will make the powers that be the most $$$$$$$$. With the ease of online gambling players, coaches, officials, could rig a game. Knowing this just kills the interest for me. Sad thing is it is creeping into CFB, and everything else.
 
Hungry Jack said:
I want the government to create a giant, rainbow-colored bubble around me so I never see anything bad.
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Surely if daddy government says something is wrong they’re always right and all us good little boys and girls will listen to them 100% of the time RIGHT
 
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fcmchi said:
If a student bookie out of Notre Dame was able to fix NU football and basketball games in the early ‘90’s, it will only get worse with the proliferation of legal gambling.
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And my recollection is that Lundy didn’t even get that much money. It was very sad to see someone screw up his life for a pittance.
 
Interesting comments... I was having a similar conversation with a friend, who asked me if I bet on sports.
My response?
Well, I used to, when it was illegal. Once they legalized it, it wasn't cool anymore.

But the truth is that I got married, had kids and stopped gambling on sports. Doesn't stop me from making predictions or assessing probabilities of outcomes. (And I still bet on horse races every now and then)

This week, I was pretty confident that Illinois would keep it fairly close against Penn State, who was favored by 17.5 or 18.
That line jumped off the screen at me, when I was scanning point spreads for a few minutes. Illinois lost 21-7. I bet nothing. No big deal.

College kids get bombarded by the online sites with free betting opportunities - open an account, get $200 to bet.
Clearly the same tactics as those used by the typical heroin dealer. I would say that is a troubling similarity.
 
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PurpleWhiteBoy said:
Interesting comments... I was having a similar conversation with a friend, who asked me if I bet on sports.
My response?
Well, I used to, when it was illegal. Once they legalized it, it wasn't cool anymore.

But the truth is that I got married, had kids and stopped gambling on sports. Doesn't stop me from making predictions or assessing probabilities of outcomes. (And I still bet on horse races every now and then)

This week, I was pretty confident that Illinois would keep it fairly close against Penn State, who was favored by 17.5 or 18.
That line jumped off the screen at me, when I was scanning point spreads for a few minutes. Illinois lost 21-7. I bet nothing. No big deal.

College kids get bombarded by the online sites with free betting opportunities - open an account, get $200 to bet.
Clearly the same tactics as those used by the typical heroin dealer. I would say that is a troubling similarity.
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I put so much VC money in my pocket on those signup deals and I don’t even live in a legalized state. Thousands.
 
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PurpleWhiteBoy said:
Interesting comments... I was having a similar conversation with a friend, who asked me if I bet on sports.
My response?
Well, I used to, when it was illegal. Once they legalized it, it wasn't cool anymore.

But the truth is that I got married, had kids and stopped gambling on sports. Doesn't stop me from making predictions or assessing probabilities of outcomes. (And I still bet on horse races every now and then)

This week, I was pretty confident that Illinois would keep it fairly close against Penn State, who was favored by 17.5 or 18.
That line jumped off the screen at me, when I was scanning point spreads for a few minutes. Illinois lost 21-7. I bet nothing. No big deal.

College kids get bombarded by the online sites with free betting opportunities - open an account, get $200 to bet.
Clearly the same tactics as those used by the typical heroin dealer. I would say that is a troubling similarity.
Click to expand...
We can’t wrap society in a full body condom.
 
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The Sunday Night Football ad just promoted that they “make it easier than ever to bet on the next play”. Intense.
 
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