Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports • Hacker News Board

Re: Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports

#31

Post by nofriend » Sat, Mar 28, 2026, 4:41 AM UTC

eru wrote: post #21

nofriend wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was banned most everywhere, then with no public debate on the subject, much less consensus, all of a sudden it was legal and in your face wherever you went. If it's going to be made legal, it needs to be justified, rather than there needing to be justification for making it illegal. I personally think it would have a high bar to overcome.

> If it's going to be made legal, it needs to be justified, rather than there needing to be justification for making it illegal. Huh, why? > It was banned most everywhere, then with no public debate on the subject, much less consensus, all of a sudden it was legal and in your face wherever you went. They didn't change any laws, did they? So it was as legal earlier as it is now, isn't it? It's just that someone found…

> Huh, why?

The opposite change was already justified, it would obviously be ridiculous to have to constantly rejustify every law in our society.

> They didn't change any laws, did they? So it was as legal earlier as it is now, isn't it? It's just that someone found the right loophole that was always there.

I do not know nor do I particularly care.

Re: Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports

#32

Post by will4274 » Sat, Mar 28, 2026, 4:42 AM UTC

nofriend wrote: post #10

erulabs wrote: post #2

0.5% increase in credit delinquency rates over 3 years feels... underwhelming. I'm not a gambler and I personally find gambling morally questionable and intellectually embarrassing, but golly I'm tired of sports gambling being pointed in a sort of "see, freedom doesn't work!" sort of way. 1% of people will ruin their lives no matter what society does to prevent it. If you have a gambling problem (if it even appeals t…

It was banned most everywhere, then with no public debate on the subject, much less consensus, all of a sudden it was legal and in your face wherever you went. If it's going to be made legal, it needs to be justified, rather than there needing to be justification for making it illegal. I personally think it would have a high bar to overcome.

I recall plenty of debate. Maryland voters voted to legalize gambling because politicians said the funds would go to education. It was a ballot initiative that won a majority vote.

But I guess all the states in the union aren't as well governed as Maryland.

Re: Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports

#33

Post by erulabs » Sat, Mar 28, 2026, 4:50 AM UTC

nofriend wrote: post #10

erulabs wrote: post #2

0.5% increase in credit delinquency rates over 3 years feels... underwhelming. I'm not a gambler and I personally find gambling morally questionable and intellectually embarrassing, but golly I'm tired of sports gambling being pointed in a sort of "see, freedom doesn't work!" sort of way. 1% of people will ruin their lives no matter what society does to prevent it. If you have a gambling problem (if it even appeals t…

It was banned most everywhere, then with no public debate on the subject, much less consensus, all of a sudden it was legal and in your face wherever you went. If it's going to be made legal, it needs to be justified, rather than there needing to be justification for making it illegal. I personally think it would have a high bar to overcome.

"If it's going to be made legal, it needs to be justified" is troubling - it's supposed to work the other direction: unless justified, it should be _legal_. I agree with your sentiment that there should have been a deeper public debate here, but banning gambling seems obviously unconstitutional, regardless of how I feel about it personally.

Re: Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports

#34

Post by xboxnolifes » Sat, Mar 28, 2026, 4:57 AM UTC

eru wrote: post #23

acomjean wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As Comedy Central put it. “Sports, brought to you by gambling”. I don’t disagree on ad regulation but it’s enmeshed now and will be hard to control. Leagues kept their distance because it looked bad, but now seem to embrace it as it must generate a boat load of ad revenue.

Well, 'sports' itself is predatory and causes lots of young people to trash their health for the amusement of onlookers. I say 'sports' to mean the stuff people watch on TV and in stadiums. You going for a run or kicking a ball with friends is fine. It's audience-driven sports that are bad. A bit of betting is small fry by comparison.

A few thousand athletes making millions of dollars being amusements for onlookers

vs

tens of thousands of people ruining their financial lives from gambling

Re: Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports

#35

Post by defrost » Sat, Mar 28, 2026, 4:58 AM UTC

will4274 wrote: post #32

nofriend wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was banned most everywhere, then with no public debate on the subject, much less consensus, all of a sudden it was legal and in your face wherever you went. If it's going to be made legal, it needs to be justified, rather than there needing to be justification for making it illegal. I personally think it would have a high bar to overcome.

I recall plenty of debate. Maryland voters voted to legalize gambling because politicians said the funds would go to education. It was a ballot initiative that won a majority vote. But I guess all the states in the union aren't as well governed as Maryland.

Well governed?

Evidence suggests easily fooled voters, although some $6.8 billion USD has flowed from Maryland casinos to the Maryland Education Trust Fund since 2010, educators on the ground are still asking when the airconditioners ordered a decade past will arrive.

* https://marylandeducators.org/where-did-the-gambling-money-g...

* https://www.mdgaming.com/marylands-casinos/revenue-reports/

It would appear there's a major leak in the Education Trust Fund.

Re: Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports

#36

Post by tombert » Sat, Mar 28, 2026, 5:08 AM UTC

itsthecourier wrote: post #18

there is a book. addiction by design, exactly about this. most of betting houses depend heavily on problem gamblers, I will look for some stats, but the truth is regulators don't care or have controversial ties very often

Yeah, the entirety of the gambling industry is sketchy.

I knew about the gross weird stuff they do at casinos (e.g. hide all the clocks and windows to make it easier to lose track of time), so it doesn't surprise me that another gambling industry is going to employ other sketchy tactics.

I've been fortunate enough to lose both times I ever was forced to engage with sports betting, and as such it wasn't addictive to me at all and I haven't had any desire to do it again, but I could see an alternate universe where I convince myself that I have some kind of "system".

Re: Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports

#37

Post by will4274 » Sat, Mar 28, 2026, 5:26 AM UTC

defrost wrote: post #35

will4274 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall plenty of debate. Maryland voters voted to legalize gambling because politicians said the funds would go to education. It was a ballot initiative that won a majority vote. But I guess all the states in the union aren't as well governed as Maryland.

Well governed? Evidence suggests easily fooled voters, although some $6.8 billion USD has flowed from Maryland casinos to the Maryland Education Trust Fund since 2010, educators on the ground are still asking when the airconditioners ordered a decade past will arrive. * https://marylandeducators.org/where-did-the-gambling-money-g... * https://www.mdgaming.com/marylands-casinos/revenue-reports/ It would appear there's…

In general, not on this specific topic.

Re: Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports

#38

Post by HWR_14 » Sat, Mar 28, 2026, 5:29 AM UTC

erulabs wrote: post #33

nofriend wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was banned most everywhere, then with no public debate on the subject, much less consensus, all of a sudden it was legal and in your face wherever you went. If it's going to be made legal, it needs to be justified, rather than there needing to be justification for making it illegal. I personally think it would have a high bar to overcome.

"If it's going to be made legal, it needs to be justified" is troubling - it's supposed to work the other direction: unless justified, it should be _legal_. I agree with your sentiment that there should have been a deeper public debate here, but banning gambling seems obviously unconstitutional, regardless of how I feel about it personally.

gambling bans in general would be constitutional. There was a stupid technical issue with the law as written, not with the concept in general.

Re: Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports

#39

Post by Terr_ » Sat, Mar 28, 2026, 5:29 AM UTC

zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #20

nofriend wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was banned most everywhere, then with no public debate on the subject, much less consensus, all of a sudden it was legal and in your face wherever you went. If it's going to be made legal, it needs to be justified, rather than there needing to be justification for making it illegal. I personally think it would have a high bar to overcome.

Here's the justification; it's my money and I'll spend it how I like

Try flipping it around: The question becomes when you can start a casino and accept other people's money.

Re: Sports betting is everywhere, especially on credit reports

#40

Post by HWR_14 » Sat, Mar 28, 2026, 5:35 AM UTC

erulabs wrote: post #2

0.5% increase in credit delinquency rates over 3 years feels... underwhelming. I'm not a gambler and I personally find gambling morally questionable and intellectually embarrassing, but golly I'm tired of sports gambling being pointed in a sort of "see, freedom doesn't work!" sort of way. 1% of people will ruin their lives no matter what society does to prevent it. If you have a gambling problem (if it even appeals t…

> 0.5% increase in credit delinquency rates over 3 years feels... underwhelming.

The number works out to just over 800,000 people in the US