I Bet this Story Gets Worse...

"Legal sports betting revenue in the US has gone from $430 million in 2018 to $11.04 billion last year, i.e., more than a 25-fold increase in five years. Note that revenue means total bets minus total payouts, so that $11.04 billion is the net loss to legal sports gamblers in America last year."

This is subject dear to my heart. I used to love to bet on the ponies. I spent many an afternoon at horse-racing tracks around the city chasing after that big score. You do not want to be a gambling, risk-taking type human being, armed with a shiny little smartphone that connects your bank account directly to an online gamibling site. I mean, fuck, isn't that a fucking obviously super-bad idea? Yikes. This little monkey knows you do not want to feed that jittery big-score seeking monkey.

Of course, the online gambling industry is happier than pigs in shit. And the goverments, local and federal, are probably happy taking their cut too. This runaway money-train is gonna be hard to stop. But what of the poor schlubs gambling their fortunes, or hard-earned pennies away? 

Those hyped-up schlubs can now bet on every play of every game on every game day.  You know, just one click away.  Many of them will be just trying to get even, digging themselves in deeper and deeper with every crazy-ass bet.

Turns out online gambling, on pretty much everything, is draining the bank accounts of folks all acorss the land. Who could have seen this coming? Ha. Maybe just about everyone? And, don't forget, as the money pot grows larger and larger, we get closer to that inevitable sports-betting-scandal? You know someone throwing a game, dropping a ball, making a an obviously bad call to cover a bet, and score the big bucks. Does anyone remember the 1919 Black-Sox Scandal? Know your history people!