▲ 293 ▼ Gambling becomes America’s favorite pastime as Americans spend more on sports bets than movies, arts, museums, and music combined (fortune.com) submitted 1 month ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world 67 comments fedilink hide all child comments
[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 113 points 1 month ago (3 children) The word is 'lose', not 'spend'. permalink fedilink source hideshow 6 child comments replies: [–] db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com 89 points 1 month ago And 'addiction', not 'favourite pastime'. permalink fedilink source parent [–] Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus 24 points 1 month ago (1 child) yeah, they would be better advised to throw their money into the garbage, at least that way they wouldn't make some rich asshole even richer. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] xylol@leminal.space 10 points 1 month ago Nice try big garbage industry man permalink fedilink source parent [–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 month ago (2 children) No, spend is right. The number being compared against is the amount spent on gambling. Obviously some of those bets won, so the amount lost would be far less. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 4 child comments replies: [–] Almacca@aussie.zone 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) All fair points. I just object to people breathlessly putting out stories like this as if it's a good thing and anything other than gambling at best, and insider trading at worst. The only people winning on those sites are the people with inside information. (edit: fixed typos) permalink fedilink source parent [–] immutable@lemmy.zip 1 point 1 month ago (2 children) Most gambling winnings go right back into gambling and are subsequently lost. I would be surprised if it was “far less” although mathematically it must be strictly less. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 4 child comments replies: [–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* In other words, the average American adult placed roughly $1,000 in legal bets on sports last year. Handle is gross throughput, not consumer expenditure: over 90% of what is wagered gets returned to bettors in the form of winnings. That $1,000 in bets translates to roughly $100 in average losses per adult. But it does point out the vast majority of the losses are absorbed by 5% of gamblers. permalink fedilink source parent [–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago Say I started with $100 and made a bet but only won 90 back. Then the next day I do it again with my 90, but only win 80 this time. Repeat this until I have $10 left, I bet that and lose it. By your logic, I’ve lost $550, since thats the amount of money I’ve bet over the week and a half. In reality, any sane person would say I’ve lost $100. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com 89 points 1 month ago And 'addiction', not 'favourite pastime'. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus 24 points 1 month ago (1 child) yeah, they would be better advised to throw their money into the garbage, at least that way they wouldn't make some rich asshole even richer. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] xylol@leminal.space 10 points 1 month ago Nice try big garbage industry man permalink fedilink source parent
[–] xylol@leminal.space 10 points 1 month ago Nice try big garbage industry man permalink fedilink source parent
[–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 month ago (2 children) No, spend is right. The number being compared against is the amount spent on gambling. Obviously some of those bets won, so the amount lost would be far less. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 4 child comments replies: [–] Almacca@aussie.zone 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) All fair points. I just object to people breathlessly putting out stories like this as if it's a good thing and anything other than gambling at best, and insider trading at worst. The only people winning on those sites are the people with inside information. (edit: fixed typos) permalink fedilink source parent [–] immutable@lemmy.zip 1 point 1 month ago (2 children) Most gambling winnings go right back into gambling and are subsequently lost. I would be surprised if it was “far less” although mathematically it must be strictly less. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 4 child comments replies: [–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* In other words, the average American adult placed roughly $1,000 in legal bets on sports last year. Handle is gross throughput, not consumer expenditure: over 90% of what is wagered gets returned to bettors in the form of winnings. That $1,000 in bets translates to roughly $100 in average losses per adult. But it does point out the vast majority of the losses are absorbed by 5% of gamblers. permalink fedilink source parent [–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago Say I started with $100 and made a bet but only won 90 back. Then the next day I do it again with my 90, but only win 80 this time. Repeat this until I have $10 left, I bet that and lose it. By your logic, I’ve lost $550, since thats the amount of money I’ve bet over the week and a half. In reality, any sane person would say I’ve lost $100. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) All fair points. I just object to people breathlessly putting out stories like this as if it's a good thing and anything other than gambling at best, and insider trading at worst. The only people winning on those sites are the people with inside information. (edit: fixed typos) permalink fedilink source parent
[–] immutable@lemmy.zip 1 point 1 month ago (2 children) Most gambling winnings go right back into gambling and are subsequently lost. I would be surprised if it was “far less” although mathematically it must be strictly less. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 4 child comments replies: [–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* In other words, the average American adult placed roughly $1,000 in legal bets on sports last year. Handle is gross throughput, not consumer expenditure: over 90% of what is wagered gets returned to bettors in the form of winnings. That $1,000 in bets translates to roughly $100 in average losses per adult. But it does point out the vast majority of the losses are absorbed by 5% of gamblers. permalink fedilink source parent [–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago Say I started with $100 and made a bet but only won 90 back. Then the next day I do it again with my 90, but only win 80 this time. Repeat this until I have $10 left, I bet that and lose it. By your logic, I’ve lost $550, since thats the amount of money I’ve bet over the week and a half. In reality, any sane person would say I’ve lost $100. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* In other words, the average American adult placed roughly $1,000 in legal bets on sports last year. Handle is gross throughput, not consumer expenditure: over 90% of what is wagered gets returned to bettors in the form of winnings. That $1,000 in bets translates to roughly $100 in average losses per adult. But it does point out the vast majority of the losses are absorbed by 5% of gamblers. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago Say I started with $100 and made a bet but only won 90 back. Then the next day I do it again with my 90, but only win 80 this time. Repeat this until I have $10 left, I bet that and lose it. By your logic, I’ve lost $550, since thats the amount of money I’ve bet over the week and a half. In reality, any sane person would say I’ve lost $100. permalink fedilink source parent