‘I literally can’t stop.’ The descent of a modern sports fan
Bone-chilling story about how sports betting can destroy your life. So thankful I don't have this gene.
A sobering snapshot of what being a sports fan can look like in this fledgling era of app-based betting.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 12, 2024
Couple snippets:
...On Nov. 29, nine days after attending the Chiefs-Chargers game, Holt took out a $3,500 loan from United Services Automobile Association, a banking and insurance firm for military and veterans. He needed it to pay their mortgage. On Dec. 8, he took out a $5,000 loan from USAA to pay off the first loan and to have extra money for gambling.
“My only thought was, ‘I’m a shoo-in,'” he said. “This $5,000, I’ll do it differently this time. I know what to do, and I will discipline myself.”
He told himself that he would research statistics more deeply before betting on a game and that he would stop after winning $100 in a day.
Thirteen days after his second loan, he took out a third, this time for $8,000....
...So when Holt said he was going to skip breakfast and the day’s activities so he could watch football, she wasn’t surprised. Little did she know, Holt wasn’t skipping out to watch a game. He was staying in the cabin trying to replenish their bank account. He searched for lending companies online. The mortgage was due in five days.
He went back to USAA. It was five days after his latest loan. This time, he took out $11,000 — paying off the $8,000 and getting an additional $3,000 to gamble....
...His annual activity statement from FanDuel for 2023 is a sobering snapshot of what being a sports fan can look like in this fledgling era of app-based betting: $878,529.56 wagered. $7,839 provided by FanDuel in enticements. Exactly 4,059 bets were placed — an average of more than 11 a day — and $63,000 was lost.
In the 15 months since he made his first bet, he had lost more than $110,000 — nearly all of his annual income of $120,000....
StickierBuns wrote:
Sports betting has always been a problem for some, but now with the ease of betting with Apps on your phone, its gone into the stratosphere with people ruining their lives....especially people under 35 years old. Can't think of a more disgusting and pitiful way to lose your or your family's hard earned income then gambling it away. An older work friend of my wife's has a younger brother that leached over $400,000 from their parents secretly gambling over the course of 2 years and he's now cut out of all their lives and its affected their retirement. Sad. But its their choice. Honestly, don't talk to me about betting addictions, I just don't have the patience to hear it, JMO. Regardless, its devastating obviously and ruins lives and families. Yes, I know all about Art Schlichter.
I thought it was interesting that they design the betting apps like slot machines.
Researchers say this is a familiar playbook, one that mirrors the psychological approach used by slot-machine designers to create continuous play. Slots use certain colors and sounds to keep players engrossed. The sports-wagering apps use in-game betting, parlays and “free” bonuses.
“They have learned the psychology of slot machines,” said Dr. Michelle Malkin, an associate professor at East Carolina University who has studied online sports betting. “The same kind of people who may get lost in a slot machine will get lost in those same kind of apps.”
My wife worked for one of the early big shots in developing video screen slot machines (if that’s what you call them). She trained their horses.
They went out to a fancy dinner at a casino he was working for. Her “job” that night was to lose $1000 on the machines and keep track of what she did and didn’t like about the machines. Which drew her eyes. That sort of thing.
We’re generally not gamblers. Although we’ll put “shinny quarter” bets on just about anything. If you want to call that gambling. Lifetime I’m probably up $5 in quarters and negative a $100ish on powerball when the payout gets nuts.
I cringe every time I see a fan duel commercial.
The gambling industry might just be powerful and big enough to avoid future regulation.
Addiction can absolutely ruin lives.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
purplefaithful wrote:
I cringe every time I see a fan duel commercial.The gambling industry might just be powerful and big enough to avoid future regulation.
Addiction can absolutely ruin lives.
Here's Draftkings leadership page if anyone needs a picture: https://www.draftkings.com/who-we-are-about
Its a massive revenue stream. It won't be touched, even by the disaster crazy left that wants to control every aspect of everyone's lives.
There is too much money in it and the States are seeing massive revenue from it. It is unfortunate because it's so easy and people get too caught up in it.
However, you can make a living from it if you are smart and can control how you are gambling the money. I use Excel spread sheets and such and only gamble what I can lose. I typically gamble about $1,000 a week or so, mainly college football, and just do moneylines. Pick teams usually that should win. Most of the time a $100, on that specific game, might net me only $60-70. So, my payout would be $170. I don't get crazy or greedy with it. On average per season per week, I typically make $1,600 to $1,700 a week. Which means I make around $700 a week doing so. Nice past time extra money hobby thing to do.
StickierBuns wrote:
There's always psychology used for anything related to consumers and consuming. Behavior is a science. These tactics will be more effective on some people more than others. 'Buy Now!: The Shopping Conspiracy' on Netflix gets into how corporations do this. Shopping addictions, betting addictions.....I just don't believe in it as an addiction. Plenty of people do and that's fine and I know all the 'rationale' for it. Again, its my opinion. To not be able to stop and blame the compulsion on an addiction doesn't hold water with me. But nonetheless, its a tragic situation.
I'll have to add this to my list....as someone who worked in Big Food for decades, it might resonate with me.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
AGRforever wrote:
Here's Draftkings leadership page if anyone needs a picture: https://www.draftkings.com/who-we-are-about
Right?
I dont see a problem? This is about life being more entertaining when you're in the action.
Canthony wrote:
Its a massive revenue stream. It won't be touched, even by the disaster crazy left that wants to control every aspect of everyone's lives.There is too much money in it and the States are seeing massive revenue from it. It is unfortunate because it's so easy and people get too caught up in it.
However, you can make a living from it if you are smart and can control how you are gambling the money. I use Excel spread sheets and such and only gamble what I can lose. I typically gamble about $1,000 a week or so, mainly college football, and just do moneylines. Pick teams usually that should win. Most of the time a $100, on that specific game, might net me only $60-70. So, my payout would be $170. I don't get crazy or greedy with it. On average per season per week, I typically make $1,600 to $1,700 a week. Which means I make around $700 a week doing so. Nice past time extra money hobby thing to do.
Hey CA,
Glad you chimed-in...Of course there are many sides to it. Its the easily influenced/addicted personalty types I fear for the most. So easy to prey on.
Probably a bit of PTSD for me, lost a BIL at 49 to addiction.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
"His interest was piqued by women’s basketball leagues in Japan and South Korea."
Never in the history of gambling has there been a more resounding red alert than a guy downloading one of these apps and shortly thereafter, seeking out Korean WBB in the middle of the night to get some action.
Scary story, hopefully with the help of his family and friends he can continue to fix his life.
pattersaur wrote:
"His interest was piqued by women’s basketball leagues in Japan and South Korea."Never in the history of gambling has there been a more resounding red alert than a guy downloading one of these apps and shortly thereafter, seeking out Korean WBB in the middle of the night to get some action.
Scary story, hopefully with the help of his family and friends he can continue to fix his life.
Isn't that bizarre? I don't know, maybe he knows the ins and outs of South Korean women's basketball, but I can't imagine betting on something I know nothing about.
I typically place two or three bets a year, mostly futures, and always on the Vikings. For example, I thought the 6.5 over on the Vikings was ridiculous, so I even bumped it up to 8.5 to win more money. Now I only wish I'd bet more! LOL. And I'm fine with just that. I have zero desire to gamble more than that. My father in law probably buys a dozen lottery tickets a week. I don't think I've ever bought one in my life.
MaroonBells wrote:
Isn't that bizarre? I don't know, maybe he knows the ins and outs of South Korean women's basketball, but I can't imagine betting on something I know nothing about.
I typically place two or three bets a year, mostly futures, and always on the Vikings. For example, I thought the 6.5 over on the Vikings was ridiculous, so I even bumped it up to 8.5 to win more money. Now I only wish I'd bet more! LOL. And I'm fine with just that. I have zero desire to gamble more than that. My father in law probably buys a dozen lottery tickets a week. I don't think I've ever bought one in my life.
Yeah thankfully I don't have the gambling bug either. I do some picks pools with my friends so wind up tracking most of my picks one way or another. I'd be up slightly over the past few seasons since I've been doing it but nowhere near enough to bother or feel much fomo. I actually have been meaning to sprinkle the Vikings SB odds and Darnold MVP this week, but haven't gotten around to it.
pattersaur wrote:
Yeah thankfully I don't have the gambling bug either. I do some picks pools with my friends so wind up tracking most of my picks one way or another. I'd be up slightly over the past few seasons since I've been doing it but nowhere near enough to bother or feel much fomo. I actually have been meaning to sprinkle the Vikings SB odds and Darnold MVP this week, but haven't gotten around to it.
I can save you the money if you're thinking Darnold MVP for the year? Of course if we made it to the Super Bowl and you picked him thats another discussion.
A bettor in Kentucky is backing the Philadelphia Eagles to defeat the Carolina Panthers on Sunday with a $3.1 million wager, one of the largest bets ever reported on an NFL regular season game.
Circa Sports took the wager on the Eagles moneyline Thursday afternoon at -700 odds, which would net approximately $442,800. In response, the sportsbook moved its line on Philadelphia to -870 and lengthened Carolina to +650 as of Friday morning. Other sportsbooks have Philly as long as -675, with the Birds giving around 13 points to the Panthers on the spread market-wide.
Circa Sports owner Derek Stevens told the "VSIN PrimeTime" betting program that the big bet has the sportsbook on the hunt for "some significant buyback on Carolina." Most sportsbooks had the Panthers at around +575 on the money line, while Circa was offering +650 on Friday.
"We currently have the best Panthers price on the board and will be big Bryce Young fans on Sunday," Circa sportsbook director Jeff Benson told ESPN by email.
ESPN BET reports that Philadelphia is the book's most-bet moneyline, as well as the second-most-bet on the spread, by total tickets. The Eagles are also the most-bet moneyline selection at DraftKings by bets and handle, and BetMGM says the Panthers (+575) are its second-most-bet underdog to win outright by total tickets.
"Eagles-Panthers is our most-bet game of the weekend, and it's been largely one-way traffic with 70% of spread handle and 80% of moneyline handle on Philly," ESPN BET's director of North American sports trading Adrian Horton said via email. "We opened the game at -12.5, and it's still moving in the Eagles' direction, now at -13 on Friday morning."
The bet for Sunday's game in Philadelphia is believed to be one of the largest ever placed on an NFL regular season contest. In Week 12, a bettor at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas placed a $1 million wager on the Los Angeles Rams to cover a three-point underdog spread against the Eagles at -120 odds; L.A. lost the game 37-20. In January 2023, a bettor lost a $1.4 million live moneyline wager when the Los Angeles Chargers blew 27-0 lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the playoffs.
The largest recorded NFL bets of all time have all been in the Super Bowl. Famed bettor Billy Walters reportedly bet $6 million on the New Orleans Saints with the points against the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, while Houston-area furniture salesman and bettor Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale has made several wagers in excess of $3 million on recent championship games.
ESPN
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Never got into gambling much - Went to Vegas a couple times in college, but nothing serious. I don't currently bet on anything and haven't but I do have an interesting story to tell.
We used to go boating and stay at the Bluewater Resort / Casino in Parker, AZ. As we would walk out to the parking lot & past the Casino floor on the side, I made it a point to the kids to stop and I would point out that people were putting money into these machines...HOPING....to get lucky, but pointed out that NOTHING was coming out. Money in....nothing out.....money in.....nothing out. Usually worked, until I saw one start paying out and the kids wanted to know what THAT was about. I told them, "I think the machine broke"
I’m cheap, or at least kind of cheap. I don’t gamble, but I don’t care if anyone else does. I hate legalized sports gambling, because I think it opens doors to cheating by too many people. A call here or there by the ref, a missed free throw at the end of a game, maybe “tweaking” a hammy and needing to sit out the 4th quarter.
It’s probably the conspiracy theorist in me, but it did happen in basketball a few years back. The game should be entertaining enough.
Honestly, guys at work gamble on sports all the time and it’s wild how much they gamble. They aren’t all winners, that’s not how gambling is set up. But, if you ask them, they all win.
My dad use to bring home the football parleys home from work every week. Always looked forward to making our picks together, you had to pick 4 teams, one was always the Vikes and then whoever was playing against the teams the Vikes needed to lose :) . Needless to say, I didn't win often and my dad would tell me to never bet on sports cause I always bet with my heart and not my head, good advice and one that I have always followed fortunately!
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