Stunning Growth of Sports Betting

[jazz4cash]

I’m not a gambler. I do go to the casino once or twice a year and might blow $50 on slots or $100 in blackjack but I mostly enjoy watching the characters. I have seen the legalized sports betting expansion coming for a long time but I am a bit stunned how fast it has grown with cooperation between all the major leagues and the gaming companies. I don’t see how it won’t affect the games, esp with live in-game betting. At some point I expect they’ll delay a free throw until “all bets are in” or something similar. Thoughts?

 

[VanWinkle]

I’m not a gambler. I do go to the casino once or twice a year and might blow $50 on slots or $100 in blackjack but I mostly enjoy watching the characters. I have seen the legalized sports betting expansion coming for a long time but I am a bit stunned how fast it has grown with cooperation between all the major leagues and the gaming companies. I don’t see how it won’t affect the games, esp with live in-game betting. At some point I expect they’ll delay a free throw until “all bets are in” or something similar. Thoughts?

Reasonable people with 50$ bets are not the problem. It's those that
are unable to control their betting and end up losing spouse, house, and
self respect due to gambling. It was illegal for a long time for a reason, but
the reason left with many other moral decisions.
The growth doesn't surprise me given the environment today.

VW

 

[gcgang]

I’ll bet it continues to grow.

More fiddling while Rome burns.

 

[Sunset]

I’ll bet it continues to grow.

More fiddling while Rome burns.

Ya wanna put some $$$ on that.... .

 

[Koolau]

Last time I was in a casino, I found this slot machine that would allow you to bet 1 cent per pull (well, push, or whatever - it was electronic.) So, since I was waiting for someone, I sat there for the better part of 3 hours and lost almost $2.00! My kind of gambling fun!

But, speaking of sports betting - I used to wager a cup of coffee on my alma mater back at Megacorp. Heady days, indeed though YMMV.

 

[Badger]

Risking my hard earned money is not my idea of fun. I have better uses for it like beer or ice cream.



Cheers!

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Last time I was in a casino, I found this slot machine that would allow you to bet 1 cent per pull (well, push, or whatever - it was electronic.) So, since I was waiting for someone, I sat there for the better part of 3 hours and lost almost $2.00! My kind of gambling fun!

The only time I went to Vegas was for a convention and this is exactly what I did while the boss poured a couple of hundred bucks down the slot. Except we happened to be by the door where the wait staff was going in and out with free drinks, so I was able to snatch several free beers while I did penny spins.

Regarding sports betting, my state recently legalized online sports betting so now we’re being inundated with TV ads for it.

 

[Chuckanut]

Nomally I do not gamble, having been cured of that by one evening in Las Vegas where I lost the all the cash for the trip in less than four hours. Bet, lose, bet, lose, bet, lose is not fun. But.....

Back in my days at Megacorp, the office weekend football pool was always fun. It was worth the $1 bet just to take part in the good humor created by the pool. Tuesday morning was always entertaining.

But, then some serous gambling types got control of the office betting pool and raised the stakes to $10. It wasn't fun anymore.

FWIW, my state runs a [-]numbers racket[/-] state lottery. I regard it as a tax on people who did not study their math lessons.

 

[Montecfo]

I do find it a bit disturbing. It seems we are becoming a bit like "Biff's America".

 

[Jerry1]

But, then some serous gambling types got control of the office betting pool and raised the stakes to $10. It wasn't fun anymore.

The one office pool I always got into was the lottery pool. It would only pop up when the jackpot git really big. Whatever the buy in whether a dollar or $20, I was in. I wasn’t going to be the sucker left in the office watching half the staff ride off into millionaire world for the sake of a few bucks.

 

[easysurfer]

Personally, I don't bet on sports. I'm not a betting person in general.

But I watch sports for the fun of it so a bet would just be a distraction.

 

[mystang52]

I was about 11 years old, and a local church bazaar had an over-under booth. As I recall, you simply bet whether the result would be over or under...something. Anyway, I lost all of my money. it couldn't have been a lot because growing up we were close to poor. I [literally] ran home to get some more change to bet, and of course lost all of that too.
Fast forward to my honeymoon, and lost something like $50 at roulette. The pit in my stomach was worse than the actual dollar loss, and I learned that I most definitely do not have whatever it takes to be a gambler.
I listen to a local sports radio channel, and the gambling ads are seemingly non-stop. They wouldn't be advertising if it didn't work, which I find scary. I do currently "gamble." It's a football pool with my friends; at end of the season the winner gets his dinner for free from the rest of us. That's the full extent of what I'll gamble.

 

[retire-early]

A couple of days ago, Sloane Stephens the 2017 US Open Tennis champion posted screen captures of the vile posts sent to her Instagram account by men who bet and lost on Sloane's match with Angelique Kerber. Sloane lost and apparently cost these idiots money.


.

 

[Walt34]

DW and I have been inside a casino one time, the one in Charles Town, WV. We went one day just to see what it was like. We each lost a dollar, wondered what the point of it all was, and left.

Approximately quarterly DW will buy a lottery ticket when the prize gets big enough to attract attention. That's the extent of our gambling.

 

[RobbieB]

I love gambling! Poker especially. Live sit down at the table and play for hours. Yes, I'll have another beer -

 

[jazz4cash]

I should clarify the stunning growth I’m referring to is more wrt the marketing of all the betting apps. If you watch any sports there is major marketing to attract gamblers. I see more and more 30 min tv and radio shows devoted to this. The fantasy sports is a subset of this in some ways. A local radio station changed their call sign to WBET but I have no idea of the programming. The same sports media personalities that “objectively” report on the competitions now also pimp the bets.

 

[disneysteve]

Sports betting is as old as sports. It was never any secret. The newspapers always printed the spreads and the odds even though nobody outside of Vegas could legally wager on a game. Jimmy the Greek made a career out of predicting the games and setting the spreads and he was featured on network TV doing so.


The only difference now is that it's legal and everyone can do it without using some back alley bookie. It's gone legit and mainstream and there is big money in it so we're seeing the ads constantly.


Personally, I'm not a sports guy so I don't get involved at all. I do like casino gambling but traditional table games and slots, not sports betting.

 

[Car-Guy]

I deleted my original much longer post and decided it really boils down to this...

I gamble a lot (casinos table games mostly but some sports betting too). However, since the pandemic has hit, 95% of my gambling dollars are now played in the market in the form of day/swing trading.


Gambling Venue Results:

Casinos - Never had a winning year. NEVER
Sports Betting - Typically I've ended "up" at the end of the year.
Markets - I only got serious about it in the past few years, but so far I'm doing pretty well

 

[38Chevy454]

The FIRE way for gambling is to invest into the gambling stocks, not the gambling itself


examples: GAN, GNOG, DKNG, WYNN, GMBL, to name some

 

[Car-Guy]

The FIRE way for gambling is to invest into the gambling stocks, not the gambling itself


examples: GAN, GNOG, DKNG, WYNN, GMBL, to name some

I played PENN gaming for a while. It's not as volatile as something like bit coin, but it's a wild ride.

 

[ownyourfuture]

The only difference now is that it's legal and everyone can do it without using some back alley bookie. It's gone legit and mainstream and there is big money in it so we're seeing the ads constantly.

Last I heard, about 24 states allow sports betting.
In my case (Minnesota) it's still illegal.

When the subject was first addressed by Minnesota legislators a year or 2 ago, the Native American casino operators didn't want it, but if the state ever allows it, they get exclusive rights.

Because I rarely gamble anymore (Sports & Casinos) to try to get in on the action, I bought 200 shares of DraftKings a while back. Doing well.....so far.

https://www.us-odds.com/states-with-legal-sports-betting/

 

[Mulligan]

Last I heard, about 24 states allow sports betting.
In my case (Minnesota) it's still illegal.

When the subject was first addressed by Minnesota legislators a year or 2 ago, the Native American casino operators didn't want it, but if the state ever allows it, they get exclusive rights.

Because I rarely gamble anymore (Sports & Casinos) to try to get in on the action, I bought 200 shares of DraftKings a while back. Doing well.....so far.

https://www.us-odds.com/states-with-legal-sports-betting/

Still waiting for my state to legalize, but since Illinois adopted it, Im only 45 min from a sportsbook now, or can drive across the river and use the app in 30 minutes. I love over/under season long win total bets in NFL and the NHL season point total over/unders. Already made the NFL bets months ago, will be plunking down the cash on the NHL next week.

 

[sparky08]

I used to listen to sports radio on weekend mornings. But they've replaced the radio hosts with 1/2 hr infomercials for gambling hot tips.

I always wonder.... if a person was so great at sports betting, why not just go to Vegas and make millions. Instead, they pay to have infomercials trying to get customers to buy their info. Doesn't make sense.

 

[ownyourfuture]

I always wonder.... if a person was so great at sports betting, why not just go to Vegas and make millions. Instead, they pay to have infomercials trying to get customers to buy their info. Doesn't make sense.

I feel the same. It also happens on wall street. People who want you to sign up for their newsletter because their portfolio averages 75% a year.

 

[Walt34]

I always wonder.... if a person was so great at sports betting, why not just go to Vegas and make millions. Instead, they pay to have infomercials trying to get customers to buy their info. Doesn't make sense.

I'm almost certain that these are the same people who host the "free dinners" and try to persuade you to invest in their Ponzi-scheme-of-the-month club.