Sports betting revenue tops $11 billion

Telling the book he had inside info on the game is still the part of that story that makes me laugh and laugh.

 

In theory, because they have other gigs, NFL officials would have way more opportunities to fuck up their lives so as to NEED bribe money, or even just be susceptible to blackmail. But the rise of replay has made that option much more difficult. Your crooked ref makes the call, it gets kicked up to New York and reversed, and where are you? And one of the chores of NFL security is to stay altert to, uh, possible issues in the zebras' lives.

 

The last time I bet, a colleague was running bookie tickets from the sports desk: pick three of five games, five of seven, etc. I won once or twice that season. At the next job (non-sports) I tried the same thing and was politely informed that management frowned on games of skill. Haven't gambled since.

 

Heh. One of the janitors who helped clean our newsroom tried to arrange a Powerball pool with some in the newsroom. She was, uh, quietly transferred to another set of buildings.

 

As other people have pointed out, betting enough money is difficult. The casinos monitor betting activity closely. Also, gambling has been legal in a large part of the world for a while.

 

Netflix has a documentary on the ASU basketball point shaving, which lays out the details of what the gamblers do and how they got caught.

 

Not that the Herald sports department had a gambling problem, but we did run an office (bolstered by many non-Herald employees who appreciated our service) on the Little League World Series every August.

 

Having a bookie on speed dial was a must at newsrooms back in the 1990s.

 

A quick search finds that video poker offers the best odds to win in a casino.

 

Timely article.

https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitality/gambling-addiction-sports-betting-apps-4463cde0

 

The last form of gambling I do is the track, which I only do in person because a day at the races is most pleasant. At least there, because you know it's the hardest form of gambling extant, you know the odds and can manage money. Also, there's a half hour between each race.
PS: bet on myself in our senior mean's golf league in the spring and summer. Two bucks twice a week.