In recent months, I’ve gotten my news from a small handful of shows: NBC Nightly News, 60 Minutes, The Daily Show, and Last Week Tonight.
The Max offering, hosted by John Oliver, is informative and entertaining. It’s won 30 Emmys, and it’s only been on since 2014.
The formula is simple. Oliver spent about 10 minutes cracking wise (usually hilariously) about the week that was before focusing on one specific story. In the latest episode, the topic was sports betting. (And you don’t need to have Max; the full segment has been posted on YouTube.)
It’s worth watching. It shines a light on issues like the three-leg parlay, termed a “sucker” bet because it’s so hard to win. Oliver explains that one study showed parlays account for a quarter of the bets made but more than half of the betting revenue.
Think of it this way. If the odds are set properly so that each leg is a 50-50 proposition, it’s like winning a coin toss three times in a row. Statistically, that has a 12.5-percent chance of happening.
The show also delves into the problem of gambling addiction. At one point, it was mentioned that 86 percent of online gambling profits come from only five percent of the gamblers.
The fact that gambling is happening via mobile devices makes it even easy to develop the same kind of habits that are developed on the various other things that can be done on a phone. And it sets the stage for some bettors to lose and lose and lose and lose until there’s nothing else to lose.
Seven years after the Supreme Court opened the floodgates, the gambling industry remains in its Wild West phase. Regulation is needed. For the NFL, a major scandal seems inevitable. Even without it, many will get hooked on betting through “sucker” bets like parlays, and some will keep chasing their losses until there’s nothing left to lose.
Ultimately, the key word is lose. Anyone who bets needs to accept that, over time, they’ll lose. Make a budget, treat it as entertainment dollars, and never think it’s going to change your life or solve your problems. Chances are, it will change your life for the worse — and it will create far more problems than it ever solves.
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