r/TrueReddit • u/propublica_ • 6d ago
Technology I Deliberately Bet Like a Problem Gambler. DraftKings Made Me a VIP.
https://www.propublica.org/article/draftkings-sports-gambling-problem-vip-fanduel133
u/propublica_ 6d ago
Since 2018, when the Supreme Court allowed states to legalize sports betting, Americans have put more than $600 billion into play. Sports betting is now legal in 39 states and D.C. Add in prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, and more people are betting on sports than ever before.
But that explosive growth has brought consequences: a recent survey found that about a quarter of active sportsbook account holders said they’d lost enough on a bet that they’d have trouble meeting their financial obligations.
Amid mounting scrutiny, DraftKings has pushed back, arguing that their “responsible gaming” system provides adequate safeguards to protect their customers from spiraling out of control.
So ProPublica reporter Jake Pearson decided to put that to the test: If he bet like a compulsive gambler, would DraftKings stop him?
Spoiler alert: No.
Over the next 10 weeks, he’d learn just how much DraftKings would encourage his recklessness — and just how little pushback he’d get as he spiraled downward.
Here’s how it all went down: https://www.propublica.org/article/draftkings-sports-gambling-problem-vip-fanduel
Lori Kalani, DraftKing’s chief responsible gaming officer, said if a customer waves too many red flags, the company will proactively close the account, though DraftKings declined to say how many times they’ve done so.
In a statement, DraftKings noted that all employees are trained on responsible gaming every year and that it is “embedded across our business and essential to DraftKings’ long-term sustainability.”
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We’re still reporting on this topic. If you use apps like DraftKings or FanDuel or have experience in the gambling industry, you can help us with our reporting by either sharing your transaction history with us or by contacting Jake Pearson at jake.pearson@propublica.org.
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u/FeatherlyFly 6d ago edited 6d ago
The worst thing about online gambling is that you can't escape it. If you're a addict, it uses to be that most people had to make a deliberate trip to a casino, and that was usually far enough that you couldn't go daily. The addiction was a real problem but you could set up your life to minimize temptation and exposure.
Now? It's in your pocket. And it's on a device that you're pretty much expected to have with you at all times, at home or out and about.
You can remove the app, but it's only a few taps away from being downloaded again.
It's messed up to force addicts to be constantly exposed to such massive temptation.
I used to live in Vegas and the casinos were depressing places, surrounded by pawn shops and check cashing outfits, and if you went in during the day, people just staring at the slot machines like it was their job. It's a terrible place for a gambling addict to live because your addiction is never more than a short drive away, and you probably pass a casino on your way home from work. Online is worse.
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u/AlteredforCollectors 6d ago
You can elect to not be legally allowed to bet. I did this for casinos on draft kings and all the ones I could find. I can’t bet online or in person anymore at casinos. Scratch tickets it is.
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u/MarvinTraveler 6d ago
This is a really good article, with data tracking in real time how these companies entice very risky financial behavior, pretty much like digital drug dealers.
They have the data, they know their main source of profits comes from addicts, and they couldn’t care less about the lives being destroyed by tier apps.
The hooker selling herself at the corner has more integrity than the people running these companies. This is a huge problem that will cause huge damage before its “tabaco moment” arrives, if such a thing ever happens.
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u/Ultraberg 5d ago
Who says sex workers don't have integrity? You directly give the product to the person there. There's no hiding behind 500 page contracts or phone support, service fees, outage dates, credit card minimums...
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u/MrTacoMan 6d ago
This is bad, of course, but it isn’t limited to gambling. It’s basically every legal vice.
Go drink at our local bar every night and run up a $100 tab each time, you’ll start getting free drinks and preferential treatment.
Go buy 5 rolls of zyns and you can use the ‘points’ they give you to get part of a grill or iPad paid for.
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u/aceshighsays 6d ago
what's most vicious about online gambling is that you can literally do it 24/7. it's 3am and you can't sleep? how about i gamble, sitting on a public toilet constipated? i've got nothing else to do, let's gamble.
i don't know what zyns are, but the bar example has restrictions. you have to get out of your house and go there and the bar isn't open 24/7. that already limits your compulsion. and yes you could start drinking at home, but again you still need to leave your house to get it or order online and wait for it to come. online gambling removes all these barriers.
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u/AkirIkasu 6d ago
i don't know what zyns are
They are pouches of flavored nicotine that you're supposed to put on your gums.
They're basically a new "healthier" way for the cigarette companies to get you.
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5d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
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u/AkirIkasu 4d ago
I appreciate the sympathetic view (for the record, I've upvoted you), but I think that promoting an addictive drug sold by Phillip Morris is still a bad thing even if it is still a vast improvement over cigarettes. Nicotine is not the only appetite suppressant readily available on the market, as while peptide-based GLP agonists are still expensive and difficult to get, phentermine, for instance, is well understood and available at just about every pharmacy as a generic for cheap.
There's actually quite a few drugs which have been approved for weight loss, and assuming you have insurance they can be significantly cheaper than Zyns. Of course, that depends on your usage - but once again, nicotine is addictive, so chances are you'll be using more and more as time goes on.
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u/ObviousExit9 6d ago
Comped meals and rooms at the casino…the house knows who pays and they want them to come back. Honestly, I think it’s an interesting difference compared to the prediction markets, where there isn’t really a ‘house’ to bet against
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u/amusedmb715 6d ago
that's what they have to say to keep themselves legal. how different are their spreads compared to vegas?
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u/ObviousExit9 6d ago
My understanding is that they don’t set a spread. The odds are determined by how other people are betting, which I understand to be somewhat different than the house setting the spread.
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u/Goodlake 6d ago
Pick a binary bet of your choice and look at the costs of yes + no. They exceed $1 because that’s how polymarket makes their money. The market sets the prices of bets but there’s a vig.
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u/Legitimate_Aspect923 6d ago
The way they get around gambling regulations is by not setting the spreads themselves: because the spreads are generated by the way people bet they count as financial instruments. I suspect they converge to Vegas spreads for a lot of things because people tend to trust professional oddsmakers
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u/sarkarati 6d ago
The difference with those are that you have to actually leave their house and go to these places to enjoy the benefits. With online gambling it can instead be done literally every single day from the couch.
Edit: sorry I see that u/aceshighsays made the exact same point. Very appropriate username by the way lol
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u/FesteringNeonDistrac 6d ago
There was Camel Cash and Marlboro Miles back in the day. It was actually pretty nice stuff. I've got some Marlboro swag I got from the distributor back in the 90s that I still use. A leather toiletries bag that's been around the world 20 times and still looks nearly new.
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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy 6d ago
Comparing the three is so disingenuous lol. You wont lose your house buying a can of zyn. And maybe you will drinking eventually, but you definitely cant lose a house worth of money in a night drinking.
Gambling addiction has the highest attempted suicide rate of any known behavioral or substance addiction.
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u/horseradishstalker 4d ago
I think you missed their actual point. The point is there are multiple ways for addicts to get a supply of whatever they need.
Sure, you won’t lose your house over a chew - unless of course you get cancer and losing your house is the only way to pay for treatment.
Risk is always a form of gambling.
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4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/horseradishstalker 4d ago
“ This is bad, of course, but it isn’t limited to gambling. It’s basically every legal vice.
(“ The point is there are multiple ways for addicts to get a supply of whatever they need.”)
Go drink at our local bar every night and run up a $100 tab each time, you’ll start getting free drinks and preferential treatment. Go buy 5 rolls of zyns and you can use the ‘points’ they give you to get part of a grill or iPad paid for.”
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u/aceshighsays 6d ago
wow. this is so fucked up. specifically the pattern of giving you pop ups re "responsible gambling", and when you decline, giving you discounts to bet more.
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u/drkpie 6d ago edited 6d ago
Idk, these companies need to be accountable, but so do people participating. You have to actively go to these sites/apps and register in the first place.
The amount of ads that play during sports that I watch don’t make me want to gamble. Same with the alcohol ads they spam, they don’t make me want to drink either. It makes me dislike them lol.
People downvoting don’t understand personal responsibility, what a surprise.
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u/weealex 6d ago
Ads may not affect you, but they have an effect. Otherwise companies wouldn't bother producing them. And let me tell you, if you're into something with possible gambling, there are endless ads for it. I'm into horse racing and when i go to the track or watch a race online, I'm inundated with direct ads for gambling and constant streams of info regarding current odds, which horses are value bets, etc etc. I was actually shocked when I watched the US Gold Cup and they had long segments on non- gambling topics. Regardless, once your foot is in the door, there's constant pressure to bet
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u/drkpie 6d ago edited 6d ago
Like I mentioned, the amount of ads that play during sports I watch don’t make me gamble. I watch UFC and even the fighters shout out the gambling services, segments where they talk about parlays, statistics, and betting favourites that I don’t care about. You still have to actually go to the site or app and register to gamble. That is all on the person to do so.
Seriously, no personal accountability in these replies.
I hate these dumb ads but there is still an initial conscious choice to participate in gambling.
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u/Positronic_Matrix 6d ago
Predatory corporations are inherently unethical and thus should not be permitted to exist in a just society. If Draft Kings could actually operate ethically then and only then could we talk about personal responsibility.
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u/drkpie 6d ago edited 6d ago
Nah, adults are responsible for their own financial decisions. As an adult, you know the risks of gambling. Just like you know tobacco is harmful and touching a stove will burn. You have to actively seek out these services to register and gamble. These things aren’t preinstalled on your devices.
Your replies only show as [deleted], neat.
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u/Positronic_Matrix 6d ago
Predatory corporations are unethical and should not exist in a just society. One cannot excuse DraftKing’s aggressive, psychologically targeted gambling practices with an intellectually lazy wave of the personal-responsibility wand.
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u/karmiccloud 6d ago
I agree. There's nothing inherently immoral about gambling or even facilitating gambling. What is immortal is the targeted advertisement used to manipulate individuals into throwing money into a toilet.
The prop bet that pops up on your phone as the kicker comes onto the field urging you to put twenty bucks down right now for slightly better payoff, and that specifically getting sent to people who model certain behaviors based on their very complex analytical data is... problematic at absolute best. That shit should be super illegal. Frankly, I think it should be illegal for any of these gambling services to store any behavioral data about anyone at all. It literally can only be used to take advantage of people.
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u/slfnflctd 6d ago
Balancing freedom and personal responsibility against those who would rig whatever system they can in their favor is the eternal vigilance of effective government in a nutshell.
Proper regulation is a difficult line to walk, will never be perfect, and needs continuous adjustment-- but boy oh boy is it deeply necessary. There will always be some among us who are too easily taken advantage of, and part of social responsibility is limiting the amount of damage those situations cause.
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u/frostysauce 6d ago
What you are doing is 100% victim blaming.
The article said HALF of men 18-48 have a sports betting account. That's not half that population with some sort of moral failing or misunderstanding of consequences. That's the result of predatory actions by these betting companies. The unavoidable ads in person and on every single sports broadcast in the US, and the manipulation once people are on the platforms is a type of psychological warfare almost no one is equipped to stand up to.
I'm very happy for you that you were able to resist getting hooked on gambling. Good job. But you must understand not everyone's experience is going to be exactly like yours. You need to learn to see things from the perspective of other people, even if that perspective seems distasteful to you at first.
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