- September 09, 2022
- Gambling
Taking the show to the streets for candid interviews with Cubs and White Sox fans about gambling. Many shared thoughts, opinions and personal accounts.
Call Gateway Foundation: 855-723-0963
Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER
Transcript:
WAGER DANGER EPISODE 6: ON THE STREETS – WHITE SOX AND CUBS GAMES
Host: Shane Cook Welcome to Wager Danger podcast, where we discuss gambling and how it can affect the lives of many people when it extends beyond recreation. I’m your host, Shane Cook. Gambling Disorder Program Director at Gateway Foundation. And on this episode, we get out of the studio and hit the streets for insight and perspective from baseball fans in Chicago at both the White Sox and Cubs games.
Speaker 2: This is Sox 35th Street. Hey, Peanuts.
Host: Shane Cook Nearly everyone we stopped to chat with had an opinion about casinos, gambling apps, and they didn’t hold back.
Speaker 3: I don’t think there is any benefit and any necessity in gambling. I will never gamble.
Speaker 4: More people are interested in their bets than in their team. Rather. What’s going on in the game?
Host: Shane Cook We met a lot of characters who told cautionary tales and others who dispensed advice about their personal gambling adventures.
Speaker 3: My brother-in-law is always in debt.
Speaker 5: I mean, before you had to drive to Indiana to play the casino, and now you could just do it here.
Speaker 6: The bills get paid first. And this is my play money. It’s right. And it’s my source of entertainment.
Host: Shane Cook You guys have money on the game today?
Speaker 7: No, I don’t. Get a baseball.
Speaker 1: Cap.
Speaker 7: On the White Sox, the Bears, the Cubs. No, no Chicago teams. The Bulls never.
Host: Shane Cook
It helped that the weather was beautiful. And you’ll even hear the Blue Angels flying overhead for the annual air and water show.
Host: Shane Cook Enjoy the episode. And remember, the Gateway Foundation is a national nonprofit that provides substance abuse and gambling disorder services at its 16 centers located throughout the state of Illinois. Now I’ll throw it over to myself on the sidewalks outside of the guaranteed rate field and historic Wrigley Field. Except hey, is Shane Coke here with wager danger? We’re outside the guaranteed rate field, home of the Chicago White Sox.
Host: Shane Cook We’re going to try and find some people here outside the stadium to talk to us a little bit about gambling in Illinois and see if they participate or what their thoughts are on gambling. So you’re not a big gambler. Have you gambled before?
Speaker 3: Yes. Sports are at the boats.
Speaker 7: Mostly the video game terminals. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, me and myself, I just play the lottery sometimes. Scratch scratching, scratching tickets. That’s about it.
Host: Shane Cook How much are you spending at a time, if you don’t mind me asking?
Speaker 5: About 150 bucks.
Host: Shane Cook Okay. A month. Okay.
Speaker 6: We’re not big gamblers.
Host: Shane Cook You’re now big gamblers. Tell me what you know about gambling.
Speaker 3: I know a lot about gambling.
Speaker 7: I know about blackjack.
Speaker 3: The Horseshoe Casino baccarat, but I don’t gamble.
Host: Shane Cook Are you a gambler? No. Okay. I’m sorry.
Speaker 4: I only gamble when I get gas station sushi.
Speaker 7: When they get back. We don’t bet money. We bet like j like Cubs Going against the Sox. Okay, you got to wear it.
Speaker 8: Your Sox fan You gotta wear a Cubs jersey.
Host: Shane Cook For a week.
Speaker 7: I said I’m not really in the business of people taking my money.
Speaker 8: My opinion is people got to do something for entertainment, but they take it to the extremes too often.
Speaker 9: My rule of thumb is when you go to the casino, always eat first.
Host: Shane Cook Always eat first.
Speaker 9: The buffet first, because there’s nothing worse than being broke to be a broken hungry.
Host: Shane Cook We’re going to do this today here at Guaranteed Rate Field. I still call it Comiskey, but we’re going to do this here today and then we’re going to go up to Wrigley tomorrow and do the same thing. Very good. Are you familiar with sports gambling? Yes. Okay. You’ve seen ads, unfortunately.
Speaker 8: Yeah. People like it. I mean, I’m not against gambling. It’s just not for me. So if people like it, it’s not hurting anybody. Let them do it, I guess.
Host: Shane Cook All right, fair enough.
Speaker 7: We don’t gamble at all. Yeah, well, I like my money.
Host: Shane Cook Do you have an opinion one way or the other about gambling apps? Oh, really? I mean, to each their own. I got a guy that worked at Gambles quite a bit, but.
Speaker 7: You know, that’s his problem.
Speaker 6: I’ve never gambled, so I have. No, I just turned 21. Well, we don’t gamble. No, I’m teasing. I don’t even buy a lottery ticket. I think it’s kind of crazy that I got to play to win. That’s not fair, you know? Why can’t I just win without playing?
Speaker 3: I don’t think there is any benefit and any necessity in gambling. Okay.
Speaker 9: We throw, you know, I mean, that’s why I’m if you want to do it, fine. As long as you’re not addicted, I guess. I guess that’s fine.
Speaker 3: By virtue of the fact that I’m an entrepreneur. I’m a gambler. Yes.
Host: Shane Cook Okay, that’s fair enough.
Speaker 10: I usually just between friends, just a little like small bets and stuff.
Speaker 3: Squares. Think about squares at a bar.
Speaker 7: Love squares.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do squares. I’m all in with that because it’s a community and you know, the person that’s gonna win. So like, you know, you do like Superbowl or All-Star Game, whatever. It’s like, Oh, cool, I know the person who won. So my 20 bucks is well vetted.
Host: Shane Cook Okay. All right.
Speaker 10: It’s much better with friends when you’re doing it.
Host: Shane Cook How about online sports betting? I mean, I’m sure you’ve seen the ads.
Speaker 8: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m mixed. Yeah, I’m mixed on that. Um, you know, I know a lot of friends that go through local bookies and that alleviates that legal problem, but, uh, I’m not a big fan of that either. But then I’m not a big gambler. I’m. I gamble every once in a while when I go to a destination like Las Vegas.
Speaker 8: But if it becomes too easy to gamble, I think it can really lead to people becoming addicted that normally wouldn’t otherwise.
Host: Shane Cook Are you a gambler?
Speaker 10: Oh, yeah, I would say I’m a gambler.
Host: Shane Cook Okay. How do you gamble? How do you access it?
Speaker 10: Uh, FanDuel, mostly.
Host: Shane Cook Okay. So online sports betting?
Speaker 10: That’s correct.
Host: Shane Cook: What in using the app, do you find that it’s easier to bet you’re betting more frequently or anything like that?
Speaker 10: It’s far easier to bet, but I wouldn’t say more frequently. I don’t I don’t bet that often.
Host: Shane Cook Okay. So you’re betting for entertainment? Absolutely. Okay. What what’s the biggest amount you’ve won?
Speaker 10: I bet the exact score of the Superbowl this year on I won about $7,000.
Speaker 4: Nice.
Host: Shane Cook All right.
Speaker 10: Yeah, that’s a one-off.
Host: Shane Cook That’s for sure. Have you put it all back?
Speaker 10: I have not. Not even close. Good.
Host: Shane Cook Good. What about within the app? Do you do any in-game betting or micro-betting?
Speaker 10: Oh, in-game betting, live betting can certainly be fun. I’m not even familiar with what micro-betting is.
Host: Shane Cook Okay. It’s essentially in-game betting. Yeah. So the next guy up is going to get a hit. What? The next pitch is going to be the striker ball.
Speaker 10: Yeah. I’ve never backed down to that level. It’s mostly the final scores for live betting.
Host: Shane Cook Okay. So you’re betting the money in line. Do you feel like micro-betting can impact your ability to enjoy the game as it’s going on?
Speaker 10: it would be fun, but it would you’d have to pay a lot of attention to the app itself. Part of the fun of sports betting for me is placing a bet and then watching a game, not necessarily paying attention to every live-at-bat. But I do know people who do like to do that, like, well, the next pitch, be a ball.
Speaker 10: That’s a good way to lose your $7,000.
Host: Shane Cook Yeah, yeah. All right. All right.
Speaker 4: You know, we’re Sox fans, all of us. We’ve all been big Sox fans. And we like to go we like to we don’t care about who wins. You know what the spread is. I don’t even know what they spread it. But there are so many people, all they care about is what the spread is. And they don’t care about the game.
Speaker 4: They don’t care about the athletes, don’t care about anything. They just want to win their bets. And that’s why everybody watches that red zone thing instead of watching the game because they just want to see what all their bets are doing. Yeah, it’s a huge problem. It’s a huge problem. And betting on baseball is crazy. I mean, you know, anything can happen in a baseball.
Speaker 4: I know you know your bet. You know, you’re going to. Yeah, well, football, I think, is probably the best and best sport to bet on. But I don’t know, basketball, and baseball is just insane.
Host: Shane Cook Have you seen any ads for sportsbooks?
Speaker 11: Well, yeah, you see them all.
Host: Shane Cook It seems like anytime you’re watching a game, they’ve got plenty of ads available. Yes. And that has persuaded you to download an app and participate.
Speaker 7: In the least.
Speaker 11: You know, the way I look at it, the casinos are they’re not because the people win.
Speaker 4: Know I’ve gambled before. Okay. Yeah. Machines, football, never. Baseball, never hockey. Just football.
Host: Shane Cook Okay. Just football. Hey, are you familiar with the online sports betting apps that are available?
Speaker 4: I am.
Host: Shane Cook Okay. Have you downloaded any of them?
Speaker 4: Yes, I have.
Speaker 1: Yeah. FanDuel. Okay. And you’ve used FanDuel kind of. Okay. What what’s your overall opinion? Legalized sports betting in the state of Illinois?
Speaker 4: I think it’s beautiful. I think it’s a great deal. You want to you got a legal way to gamble. You don’t have to worry about getting in trouble. It’s good. I think it’s a good thing for Illinois.
Host: Shane Cook Okay. Good for the state. Raises some funding, takes a little, little tax burden off the taxpayer.
Speaker 4: I’m not sure about that. I’m sure it takes a great burden off the politicians gambling and marijuana are going to save our economy by the right hand. You know that.
Host: Shane Cook Are you familiar with sports gambling?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I’ve heard of it.
Host: Shane Cook You do you participate in it.
Speaker 7: A little bit.
Host: Shane Cook A little bit. And what app do you typically use?
Speaker 6: DraftKings app.
Host: Shane Cook DraftKings. All right. Are you excited about the new DraftKings sportsbook that’s being built?
Speaker 6: Don’t even know about it.
Host: Shane Cook Really? How about the sportsbook there? They’re building here at the corner.
Speaker 8: I’ll never go in there. I know that. Never say never. I walked in there with my friends who gamble and they’ll try their best to talk, build up to participating and start doing that stuff. I’ll get in because they’ll give you a $300, as you know, for for joining or something. Right. Well, that’s just a real gimmick to sucker you in.
Speaker 8: They’re just going to get it right back. I could actually, you know, start doing that. Stop and control it. Just do it one more time out here with some of the other guys we’ve talked to, you know who’s going to hit what and stuff and maybe parlay something. Yeah, see, I do know the lingo. Okay? I’m involved with people that do it all the time, but I just take the odds.
Speaker 8: There’s so much against you. I think it’s unfair and I’m just not going to be taken in.
Speaker 9: Plus, you brought up the sports, right? That’s going to be the number one. And I’m not against it. I’m not for it. But that’s going to be the number one revenue stream for the Chicago Cubs because, yes, the average person doesn’t know what the actual odds are. They say, oh, I want to the homer, we’re giving you 10 to 1 odds.
Speaker 9: So the odds to hit the homer are like greater than that. So even if you hit it, you’re still losing value from that, and the average fan doesn’t know that they’re going to make a killing. But those are terrible bets to make. Parlays worst things to do in sports, but they’re the most fun. So, yeah, it’s a losing proposition.
Host: Shane Cook Are you all familiar with sports betting apps? Do you use any of them?
Speaker 7: Yes.
Host: Shane Cook Which one do you use?
Speaker 7: And I got on here now. Right now I think it’s worth FanDuel, FanDuel. And then the other one is sports gaming. And I’m getting ready to do the BetMGM MGM on Aurora I got to go to reward there they’re going to give you a $5 $500 free sign-up. Okay, all I have to do is deposit money and they give me $500 a little money.
Speaker 7: Life story, no time. How did how you want to start to get into the fan betting this is how you want to do it because they’ll match your initial bet and then if you take that money and use their money first to bet you still get your money. You could take that out at any time you make money on their money, you’re up.
Host: Shane Cook Right.
Speaker 7: I walked away. 1400 quit, then I quit for three months. Just didn’t get on anything.
Host: Shane Cook No kidding. What?
Speaker 7: Watch it come back again. So I don’t bet on baseball. Basketball? They do it today.
Host: Shane Cook Injuries. Okay. What makes them what makes baseball more dangerous than football?
Speaker 7: Because it’s more unpredictable, I think I think you can decide on the football teams, you can look at especially college and I mean, like Ohio State, you’ll give us a 16 against Indiana or it doesn’t matter. They’re given less than 25 at Ohio State. I’m betting most of the time. Okay. I think they’re going to win by, you know, 30 or 40.
Speaker 7: If they win. If they don’t, then they won’t win. So, you know, just the odds are, is you’re in college football and in pro football, especially college football to me to look at teams to bet versus bet in the NBA, basketball, which is one or two point games all the time, comes down to the last 2 minutes of the game in baseball.
Speaker 7: You’re betting on the pitcher? Yeah. You know, and then you’re never getting the odds because you always want the best pitcher, right? So to me, that’s that. That’s how I bet.
Host: Shane Cook So during a football season, you’re pretty active on your betting.
Speaker 7: Yeah. Yes, in that betting too. During the game betting. Sometimes they offer me money to take my parlays back and then they’ll make me an offer and say, okay, you bet. $10 and you can win 500, but we’re going to give you 250 if you quit right now. And I’ll say, fine, I’ll take the 250.
Host: Shane Cook You walk away early, then.
Speaker 7: Most of the time, if they offer me the right amount of money now sometimes they’ve offered me, wait, you load. I’m on. Wait a minute. No, I’m not going to do that and I can take those odds because then the odds are not in my favor again. You know, I obviously do not my if you ever any time they make an offer but if you do the numbers and crunch what your odds are if you winning versus what they offer you, if it’s comparable, then you get out.
Host: Shane Cook All right. How much would you estimate you’ve wagered on sports betting? Since the sports betting apps have been legal in the state, which is really ten times.
Speaker 7: Yeah well my money really.
Host: Shane Cook Okay, you’re using the app’s giveaways to place your bets.
Speaker 7: Correct.
Speaker 5: Because I actually opened up on that the other day and I wasn’t sure if it was for real or if it was or if it was just or if it was just plain, you know, one of those are poker games.
Host: Shane Cook Right?
Speaker 5: Yeah. One of those poker games I had to like take a minute and see if they were for real or if I was really gambling with my money. Because now nowadays, you know how you got your credit card and your phone and that credit card is linked to your phone all the time. So you don’t really know if you’re gambling or not for real.
Speaker 5: It is a little bit confusing. It’s not it’s not forward and straight.
Host: Shane Cook Have you downloaded anything like Fan Duel or DraftKings?
Speaker 5: Oh, no, not yet.
Host: Shane Cook So, yeah, I’d gotten into sports betting.
Speaker 5: I thought about doing it. But no, I think I, I think I’ll stick to scratching. I’ll take the lottery.
Speaker 7: Tickets for me.
Speaker 5: FanDuel and, and all that is a little bit too much for me.
Host: Shane Cook Too much as in just overwhelming.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah. And you got to know yourself if you’re if you’re a gambler, don’t do it. You got to know yourself as a person. Because if you’re a gambler, don’t do it. Don’t don’t download those things because, you’re going to patrol.
Host: Shane Cook Yeah.
Speaker 4: So and golf now they got, I mean you get it here in the middle. Yeah. There are these ads like who’s going to win and who’s going to have the lowest score of the day. And you can bet right there in the spot. And they say, you know, subject to change. I mean, they’re like betting on golf. It’s like nuts.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, who bets on golf? But they got plus two. I mean, you can put down ten bucks. And if a guy happens to win the long shot, you can win 10,000 bucks or something, right? You got but it’s I know it’s.
Host: Shane Cook Well, you can bet 24 hours a day on games that are going on all across the world on these apps. You can bet on cricket.
Speaker 8: I’m not a big fan of the gaming in all of the local drinking establishments. I think that leads to a lot of people that have become addicted to gambling that might not otherwise be, you know, put in that position. I’m not opposed to casinos where people are going there for, you know, entertainment venues, sporting, uh, concert venues. But I think localized gambling has become a real problem.
Speaker 6: I’m a casino goer, I play them in the bars, I have an online app, so yes, I have it all. You bet on sports. I do. Okay. What’s your favorite sports event? Um, I’ve been doing baseball a lot, obviously, because it’s baseball season. I’ll be doing football, and I’m. I’m little. I’m. I’m small time. I’m not going to get rich off of it.
Speaker 6: I’m not going to go poor off of it. I just play around for fun. Right. And it is fun for me, you know. But then you.
Speaker 9: Do in-game betting and now it’s a baseball game is 3 hours long. You do that like, hey, this guy’s got his.
Speaker 6: Double or I have. That’s not usually what I do. I do a lot of parlays and prop player prop things, goofy fun things. So what’s the goofiest, funniest thing you’ve ever played? You know, like you pick two or three guys to hit a home run and they happen to do it and somebody else, and my $5 becomes $120. You know.
Speaker 6: So that’s my gambling values.
Host: Shane Cook All right.
Speaker 6: So using if that sounds like fun and I keep it fun, I’ve never gotten ecstatic or, you know, remorse over any a gambling I’ve done.
Speaker 3: So my brother-in-law is always in debt. Has his house mortgaged up here, and owes everybody money because he can’t stay away from gambling. He used to go to the casinos, but now he just does stuff online. I don’t know what he does exactly. Probably not sports, but he has to keep borrowing money from my husband so that when he’s not working, it’s not working for him.
Host: Shane Cook We just want to make sure that people know that there are organizations out there that they can turn to. Yep.
Speaker 6: Yep. And and I think that the places do you know like everywhere has that any you know trouble with gambling call this number on the machines they’re everywhere so I think the resources are there but unfortunately I think it’s much like drinking. The people who have the problems don’t think they do.
Host: Shane Cook Right.
Speaker 6: Well, and they aren’t seeking help until it’s often probably near rock bottom, just like the.
Host: Shane Cook Drink and such. Yeah, good point. It’s a hidden addiction. Yeah. Gambling is. You can’t smell it. You can’t see it in action.
Speaker 6: And so I and I get you, you know, and I’m smart enough, I enjoy it, but I pay the bills, get paid first. And this is my play money. It’s right. That’s my source of entertainment.
Host: Shane Cook And I’m a big advocate of that, too. Yeah.
Speaker 6: To you. Yeah.
Host: Shane Cook As a form of entertainment. That’s great. But if you’re not paying your mortgage, if you’re opening up new credit card accounts to get cash out to gamble, we want to make sure people know there’s somebody to talk to.
Speaker 6: That’s awesome.
Speaker 7: Yes. You say you got to separate out your wallet because I want the sex to win every game. So, I mean, obviously, I make stupid bets when I bet on them sometimes.
Host: Shane Cook Right. Right. That’s a good point.
Speaker 7: I mean, I think you got to play the statistics. And if you know your statistics and if you don’t, then go take a class.
Host: Shane Cook And so your strategy, take the emotion out.
Speaker 7: Keep the emotion completely out of it. It’s all numbers. It’s a numbers game. Okay. All right. The numbers in your favor all the time. More you put the numbers in your favor, the better chance you have to in.
Speaker 9: The right place. You’re betting from the heart. Your heart, too. You do not really use of common sense. Well, let’s take the teams that you know nothing about. They have no nothing invested emotionally in. They just go buy that. Some people are good at it. I’m not so I don’t do it anymore.
Host: Shane Cook So people that have it extended beyond entertainment for them. And you could say that they’re addicted and have a problem with gambling. So I did. You did. But thank you. Thanks to Butch.
Speaker 4: Johnson in the 19.
Host: Shane Cook 78 Super.
Speaker 4: Bowl, you quite often think of a 45-yard touchdown pass from Staubach and the.
Host: Shane Cook Cowboys covered, which covered me with.
Speaker 4: The book. And it’s the last bet I ever made.
Host: Shane Cook So that scared you out of retirement? I was a senior in college.
Speaker 4: And I spent I had a grand on a game and I owed him a grand. So it was going to be.
Host: Shane Cook Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 4: You know, you’re playing a game four more than you got in your pocket. Exactly. More like James Caan in the movie The Gambler. I was you know, it was getting bad from yesterday.
Host: Shane Cook And, you have a better sense. You know.
Speaker 4: I pray to Butch Johnson every night. I think I’m.
Host: Shane Cook Just. Does it bother you to see so many advertisements for these online sportsbooks? You know, I hear you thinking here you get you know, Joe.
Speaker 4: Judge, you know, Shoeless Joe was banned from the Hall of Fame and now the White Sox have an official gambling sponsor. Yeah. And they’re going to have they’re going to have an off and off track or a, you know, a sports book in this ballpark one of these days.
Host: Shane Cook Yeah, I think they’re planning one for Wrigley and also the United Center. So it’s only a matter of time.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, the ones who run the gambling, they wouldn’t do it if they weren’t making money.
Host: Shane Cook That’s very.
Speaker 4: True. Vegas is such a nice style.
Speaker 4: With big buildings. You know, you guys, you know that when somebody really gets it bad and it’s just like a really bad alcoholic, it’s maybe worse. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s worse. I mean, it’s all bad, but if you get into that gambling thing big time, it can ruin your life, ruin your family’s life also. And all your money’s going. I mean, it’s ridiculous.
Host: Shane Cook Well, we’re out here trying to create awareness for problem gambling and if people do have a problem with gambling, we want them to know that there are agencies out there that can help.
Speaker 3: And I think I know someone who needs one of those cards. Oh, you do? Yeah, it’s a friend. All right? She’s addicted to this online nonsense, and I never knew that it costs money, but it’s costing money the most. She can’t stop.
Speaker 6: Really? She’s not in danger of losing her house or anything. It’s. Well, okay.
Speaker 3: It’s bad.
Speaker 4: One thing that I know is that I’m in the banking business and when they open all those casinos in general, they are like 20 years ago, 30 years ago, or however long ago it was this guy was I knew there was a banker down there. He said, ever say when they opened up those casinos, the mortgage default rates went way up because all these people were going to the casinos to bet their mortgage money and lose, then they couldn’t pay their mortgage.
Speaker 4: And it’s you know, it’s they make it seem like you can go there and just win, win, win and put money in your pocket. But if that was the case, they’d be out of business in a week. Right. So I know it’s it’s a big problem. And you know what? If you can control it and you say, okay, I’ve got a hundred bucks and I’m going to stop when it’s over.
Speaker 4: And you do you know, it’s fun. I mean, gambling’s fun entertainment. But if you then you go, well, I can get that back. And then another and another. And you know what? That’s when it gets to be a problem.
Host: Shane Cook You’re exactly right. So. Oh, well, I appreciate it.
Speaker 4: I don’t gamble anymore. I mean, I play cards with my friends and stuff and that’s it, you know? But I don’t do it. I don’t go to casinos.
Host: Shane Cook I, I work. Well, it looks like you. I had a fantastic lunch.
Speaker 4: And we did. Everything was good.
Host: Shane Cook Did you make it?
Speaker 4: Do you want to say It?
Speaker 7: Okay.
Speaker 11: I’m all for it. I you know, I have no problem with people that want to gamble. That’s great. But as far as I’m concerned, I just don’t, you know, I mean, I’ll go just to have fun.
Host: Shane Cook You mean go to the casino, or hotel?
Speaker 11: Casino and have fun. But, you know, if I put $100 in one pocket when it’s gone, I’m out of there.
Host: Shane Cook That’s usually a good strategy.
Speaker 9: It’s kind of sad how much money you’re going to lose that day and let that go, whether it’s $5 or $10. And then some people, it might be $1,000. You know, as long as you’re not dipping into your in your bill money, that it doesn’t really matter.
Host: Shane Cook Right. So you see it as a form of entertainment.
Speaker 9: Well, at this point, that’s all it is. Just like going to the movies. I go to the movies. I don’t mean spending 50 to $70 on the movie ticket drinks and tape, and that’s my enjoyment for 2 hours. Yeah, the casino got a hundred bucks. I don’t have a credit card with me. I don’t have any way to get money out of the machine.
Speaker 9: But just like him, you bring x amount of money that’s entertainment and hope he’ll last year for two or 3 hours.
Host: Shane Cook So. So you’re a recreational gambler?
Speaker 8: Yes, I have it thoroughly under control. But believe me, I see a lot of people out there that are way overdoing it and, you know, going to the ATM machines and cash it checks it all. It’s it’s nuts. Mostly old ladies.
Host: Shane Cook Yeah, we do see that a lot. And we have a program that helps people out.
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know what? There are a lot of people out there that could use it, but I don’t think they’ll admit that they got a problem. They’ve got a problem. I mean, I get mad when I lose my 80, like once a month and I, uh. I got to quit, though, because I do still enjoy it. I just want to last for a couple hours.
Speaker 8: I just play the slot machines. Okay? It’s. It’s entertainment for me, and that’s all I do. You know, I don’t. I don’t drink, smoke, do drugs. I gamble a little bit.
Speaker 9: Oh, you know, you pick two or three things, a parlay that pays you that, you know, a nice payout because people don’t realize what the odds are. So it makes it it is a bad bet, but it’s interesting. It makes it fun. Who wants to bet $5 to win $5? Nobody is boring. Now, if you bet $5 to win 50 bucks, that’s that might be exciting.
Host: Shane Cook Online sports betting has been legal in Illinois for almost two years now. Would you care to take a guess on how much money has been wagered through online sports gambling in the state of Illinois? I don’t know.
Speaker 5: I don’t know a guess, but I would say a lot, a lot of money.
Host: Shane Cook Would you be surprised if I told you to date it’s over $13 billion?
Speaker 5: God, no, I’m not surprised, because it’s it’s it’s it’s it’s real easy. And they make it easy on you to do it. I mean, before you had to drive to Indiana to play the casino, and now you could just do it here.
Host: Shane Cook How about overall gambling in Illinois? Are you familiar with how much is typically wagered? Oh.
Speaker 3: I couldn’t even venture to take a guess. I bet it’s astronomical.
Host: Shane Cook 13 billion in sportsbook betting in two years.
Speaker 3: Wow. Massive. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 7: In Illinois, I would guess it would have to be close to three or 400, 500 million maybe. Maybe even a billion.
Host: Shane Cook Would you be surprised if I told you in the last two years in the state of Illinois, 13 billion has been wager huge?
Speaker 7: And that surprised me because I saw they had made 500 million in taxes or 40 million in taxes last year alone. So but $13 billion tax bill.
Host: Shane Cook Yeah, it’s a big number.
Speaker 7: Yes, that’s a huge number.
Host: Shane Cook And it’s growing too, year over year, month over month.
Speaker 7: So what do the people want to gamble? Let them gamble.
Speaker 4: I’m sure I’d be way off. I have no idea.
Host: Shane Cook What did surprise you if I said it’s 13 billion in the state?
Speaker 4: Not at all. Not at all? No. Is that accurate?
Host: Shane CookYeah. Through the data that’s available as of today, through the end of May of this year, it’s a little over 13 billion. That’s and this year had the single largest month. The month of the Super Bowl was 1 billion in the state of Illinois.
Speaker 4: Wow. That’s unbelievable. Oh, wow.
Speaker 11: Not in two years. Yeah, I would have to say close to a billion.
Host: Shane Cook Would it surprise you to hear 13 billion?
Speaker 11: That’s surprising.
Speaker 4: Yes. I don’t know. It’s got to be a big number. Why? I wouldn’t. $1,000,000,000. I don’t know. I have no idea.
Host: Shane Cook The next latest numbers indicate 30 over $13 billion wager.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 4: And how much is lost in America? You know, I mean, some people won, right? But most people lost.
Host: Shane CookThat’s the total handle. The amount of bets placed or wagers is. Well, that’s a way to wrap it in the mic drop right there. Call it We love hearing from you. So please take a moment to like share and comment on our podcast. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter at Recovery Gateway on LinkedIn, at Gateway Dash Foundation or through our website at Gateway Foundation.
Host: Shane Cook Talk Wager Dangerous supported through funding whole or in part through a grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery. Recovery is a lifelong process. If you are a family member or are struggling with a gambling problem, call Gateway at 8449753663 and speak with one of our counselors for a confidential assessment.
