Great post. Thank you. Sportsbooks are scams though. They ban consistent winners and often exploit those who lose. What's really needed in the U.S. are betting exchanges and a move away from traditional sportsbooks.
Agree, have written on limiting in the past. Would be nice to see some exchanges in the US and some companies like Sporttrade, Circa, NoVig and ProphetX are appealing to the sharper demographic but the current tax structure (in particular the federal excise tax) makes it very tough
Pretty much! I think if there are other forms of gambling that are way worse and easier to fight back against it doesn’t make much sense to focus on sports betting specifically. Either go all in on gambling prohibition or focus on the worst offenders.
That was exactly my reaction. The title of the post is "In Defense of Sports Betting" not "Worse things exist than sports betting". Also it is not clear that there is a trade off between efforts to ban different types of gambling. I would actually expect that increased efforts to restrict sports betting would also lead to restrictions on iGambling.
Also this is not a strong claim
"Technically, anything in which you risk money on an uncertain outcome could be considered a bet. That’s true of sports betting, casino games, or the lottery. But it’s also true for buying a house, picking stocks, or any investment where the returns aren’t guaranteed."
It is not hard to understand that investment decisions, while risky, lead to real economic investment and create social surplus in expectation and in aggregate. Therefore they are often socially beneficial, while gambling is much more zero sum.
Great post. Thank you. Sportsbooks are scams though. They ban consistent winners and often exploit those who lose. What's really needed in the U.S. are betting exchanges and a move away from traditional sportsbooks.
Agree, have written on limiting in the past. Would be nice to see some exchanges in the US and some companies like Sporttrade, Circa, NoVig and ProphetX are appealing to the sharper demographic but the current tax structure (in particular the federal excise tax) makes it very tough
So your defense of sports betting is 'worse forms of gambling exist'?
Pretty much! I think if there are other forms of gambling that are way worse and easier to fight back against it doesn’t make much sense to focus on sports betting specifically. Either go all in on gambling prohibition or focus on the worst offenders.
Whataboutism is not any defense at all.
That was exactly my reaction. The title of the post is "In Defense of Sports Betting" not "Worse things exist than sports betting". Also it is not clear that there is a trade off between efforts to ban different types of gambling. I would actually expect that increased efforts to restrict sports betting would also lead to restrictions on iGambling.
Also this is not a strong claim
"Technically, anything in which you risk money on an uncertain outcome could be considered a bet. That’s true of sports betting, casino games, or the lottery. But it’s also true for buying a house, picking stocks, or any investment where the returns aren’t guaranteed."
It is not hard to understand that investment decisions, while risky, lead to real economic investment and create social surplus in expectation and in aggregate. Therefore they are often socially beneficial, while gambling is much more zero sum.