Spike retold a personal experience where he had felt the dangers of sports gambling, and how he came to swear off sports gambling for good as a 21-year-old on \u201crazor-thin financial margins.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to have a problem with sports gambling. I worked at a little neighborhood tavern, and the bar operator was a bookie. I used to bet on football games because it was so easy, and at my fingertips,\u201d Spike said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you feel like you just got lucky, or if you maybe watched enough games, you could beat the system, and you could win?\u201d Jake asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I did. All my buddies were doing it too. It was fun, no one was losing their house, except I was on razor-thin financial margins as I was 21 years old,\u201d Spike said. \u201cOne Christmas, I was in a hole and tried to make a big bet on a sure thing to get even. There was a late-game touchdown call that would\u2019ve won my bet. I got on my knees in front of the TV and said, \u2018God, if you give me this bet, I\u2019ll never make another bet as long as I live. As the words left my lips, the referee\u2019s arms went in the air, and I haven\u2019t made a bet since.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sports gambling websites easily accessible for the younger generation<\/p>\n
Jake highlighted the substantial increase in sports gambling across the U.S. over the years, noting that the amount of money spent on online sports gambling has nearly tripled, and it is only getting easier to gain access.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Spike] you\u2019ve experienced this firsthand. It would\u2019ve been hard for you if you didn\u2019t know that bookie,\u201d Jake said. \u201cYou had easy access, and now there is FanDuel and Draft Kings, and everyone\u2019s got a bookie in their pocket. I think back in like 2022, the size of the online gambling pool at that point was only in the $65 billion range. Two years later, it\u2019s $150 billion. That\u2019s like a threefold growth in just a couple of years. Imagine what it\u2019s going to be in five years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see billions spent on advertising. That\u2019s because these guys don\u2019t lose, not because they\u2019re paying out a ton of money,\u201d Spike said. \u201cThe house always wins. You\u2019re geared to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch the full discussion in the video above.<\/p>\n
Listen to\u00a0\u201cThe Jake and Spike Show\u201d<\/a>\u00a0weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO\u00a0Newsradio\u00a097.3 FM.\u00a0Subscribe to the podcast here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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