Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Betting Ubiquitous

Re:Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Be... by p1necone on Sunday November 20, 2022 @10:38PM (#33688449)

This is inane bullshit. It's a video game. Kids have always fucking loved video games. I and most of my friends used to spend most of our free time playing video games when I was in highschool because they're fun. We now all have stable relationships and 6 figure salaries, and most of us still play a decent amount of video games.

Kids play a lot of Fortnite because it's a fun game with a compelling "just one more round" hook (you should try it, or PUBG or Warzone if you want something a bit less wacky, it's fun!). It's not that insidious. When I was younger my peers were just as obsessed with (pick one of WoW, DOTA, Counterstrike).

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Be... by noduerme on Sunday November 20, 2022 @10:49PM (#33688507)

My friends and I played a lot of Marathon over LAN and played a lot of poker, and honestly if I were the lord in charge of the network to monetize either, I'd say poker is the less immoral thing to run moderation on and profit for your efforts. That's what I'm trying to say.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Be... by ericd on Monday November 21, 2022 @01:19AM (#33689461)

To be fair, WoW caused a couple of people I knew to really suffer in college, and one failed out as a result of a WoW addiction. DOTA addiction caused at least one other to fail out.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Be... by maxbond on Monday November 21, 2022 @01:24AM (#33689481)

> This is inane bullshit. It's a video game.

I think you may be unaware of the extent to which players, including children, are engaging in real-money gambling at the periphery of video games. Here's some recent reporting on the topic.

https://youtu.be/eMmNy11Mn7g

Tl;Dw there's a thriving, multibillion dollar gray market for gambling with cosmetic items in games, as well as a market for trading these items for real money. Together this creates stealth real money casinos.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Be... by skhr0680 on Monday November 21, 2022 @06:48AM (#33691520)

When you were a teenager and played CS skins were free. Now the game is aimed at the same age group but entices* kids to spend $2.50 for very low odds of winning at a slot machine and getting a skin worth thousands of dollars.

* Valve banned servers from "Allowing players to claim temporary ownership of CS:GO items that are not in their inventory (Weapon skins, knives, etc.)"

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Be... by frumper on Monday November 21, 2022 @11:37AM (#33694513)

Maybe it's just me, but I'd think it's hard for kids to spend $2.50 if parents don't give them $2.50 to spend. I don't expect kids to make good decisions about money, or gambling, or games. I put that responsibility on the parents.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Be... by prawn on Tuesday November 22, 2022 @02:15AM (#33702996)

I don't give my son the means to buy things within Fortnite, but he talks about it frequently, and about peers that are buying things. It can build a bit of resentment that needlessly complicates already-challenging parenting.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Be... by frumper on Tuesday November 22, 2022 @10:23AM (#33706742)

I agree with everything you just said, but I'm still in a place where I won't let my kids have the funds without me.

[ Parent | on HN ]