alt Hacker NewsIt's still cake! The implied assertion is gambling enterprises need problem gamblers. That if you restrict their ability to prey on problem gamblers, nobody gets to casually gamble.
I know nothing about gambling. But I know a lot about market making and the math of being a bookie. And basaed on that, I don't think the claim is true.
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I also no nothing about gambling and a lot more about market making.
One major difference that may change the math is the tax rate. Illinois for instance just passed a 40% tax on sports betting.
Intuitively I see all addictive industries the same. The Tobacco industry can, and does, make money off of the odd cigar at a house party. But ultimately, they rely on the constant addiction to have a business model.
It's cheap, and easy, to make nicotine free tobacco like devices. You could lower your cost quite a bit - pretty good for the books! But it doesn't matter, and nobody with half a brain does it.
Well, I don’t know much about market making but as a member of Gamblers Anonymous since 1998 I’ve seen just about every kind of devastation caused by every kind of gambling. In the last few years I’ve seen a significant increase in the number of very young men coming to us. Here in Australia, the gambling industry absolutely is laser focused on targeting young men using every psychological trick in the book, including such pernicious features as “Bet With Mates (tm)” which is explicitly designed to use peer pressure to lock in and escalate those in the group who may otherwise pull out.
If we accept that almost 50% of revenue comes from 80% of gamblers (a diverse cohort) while the other almost 50% comes from 3% of gamblers (a far more uniform cohort), then of course betting companies would be absolutely defending against any change (regulation) that would impact the 3%. Furthermore they’d be remiss in their duty to their shareholders if they weren’t trying to migrate gamblers from the larger cohort to the smaller.