this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2026
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Today I Learned

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[–] DavidGA@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] hirihit640@sh.itjust.works 4 points 21 hours ago

Is that what museum stores are for? Selling museums?

[–] UltraBlack@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Maybe that's the reason why education is being defunded

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 30 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's all part of getting every last penny out of us before we die. If you've still got some disposable income left after paying rent and student loans, then here's a fun way to throw it away!

Lately I've been seeing Matthew Broderick advertising a new gambling app with Candy Crush type games, instead of sports or Vegas style games, so it will be much more attractive to people who already play games on their phones. Worse, they are aiming at middle-aged women, but not just any middle-aged women, they are looking for those who are unfulfilled in life.

I've seen three different commercials, and all of them feature a woman whose family is ignoring her, and making her feel bad. Then Ferris Beuhler sidles up with this fun new game, and now she's getting fat hits of dopamine, and she's happy.

Many women handle the household finances, and in a couple of years, we're going to see stories of Moms who lost the family home, gambling on her phone.

[–] SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago

The platform launches with ‘Very Adult Son,’ a :30 centered around a mother whose adult son moves back home and adds more responsibilities to her plate, just as Matthew Broderick reminds her that life doesn’t get to decide she’s done chasing a little thrill.

“Our previous relationship with the brand and the team gave us the confidence to look beyond the category’s obsession with jackpots and uncover something more ownable,” said Peter Hughes, Group Creative Director at 72andSunny New York. “We became obsessed with the inciting incident. The moment life starts to assume you’ve lost your edge. Because the real thrill isn’t always the win. It’s the decision to push back. That’s what inspired our platform. Play with Hard Rock Bet is an act of rebellion.”

In our day and age, when you feel like rebelling, this is your outlet! It's healthier and more thrilling to avoid your problems!

Link

[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Lately I’ve been seeing Matthew Broderick advertising a new gambling app with Candy Crush type games, instead of sports or Vegas style games

It can only mean he has money problems.

[–] radiofreebc@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Maybe he hit someone else with his car

[–] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

That in no way excuses being a shill

[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Either way a has-been find themselves clawing up the wall.

Just fulfilling his fiduciary duty to his family, scummily.

[–] THE_GR8_MIKE@lemmy.world 48 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Happy to say I contributed zero to that, but jesus fuck regardless.

[–] dan1101@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Yeah I've never even bought a lottery ticket, no interest whatsoever.

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 36 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's a tax on people who can't do math.

[–] creamfresh@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago (12 children)

Gambling addiction is an illness.

[–] JasSmith@sh.itjust.works 1 points 19 hours ago

While true, I'm not sure I like the implication of banning it. Many people gamble recreationally, just as many drink wine recreationally or smoke marijuana recreationally or eat unhealthy food recreationally, etc. I do not think we should ban things which can be misused just because some people misuse them. We all suffer because a minority cannot control their impulses.

We should instead have support for people with addiction.

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

So is measles.

One you can prevent taking a vaccine. Other you can prevent not starting gambling.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 54 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Okay, yeah sure. That looks bad. But how much did those Americans win back?

[–] radix@lemmy.world 55 points 2 days ago (11 children)

Handle is gross throughput, not consumer expenditure: over 90% of what is wagered gets returned to bettors in the form of winnings. That $1,000 in bets translates to roughly $100 in average losses per adult.

The market is big, but less than the more clickbaity headline would suggest.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 33 points 2 days ago (4 children)

over 90% of what is wagered gets returned to bettors in the form of winnings

As someone who has gambled once or twice, this seems like a wild overestimate.

[–] Dozzi92@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago

You gotta remember rich people are cheating with insider info on Kalshi and Polymarket, so the numbers are skewed.

[–] TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub 20 points 2 days ago

They didn’t say it returned to the same individual. Some people get the ocasional win and stop, others keep gambling the winnings until they lose it all.

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[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Does the stock market count as gambling? 😂

Michael Burry invested more on gambling stocks and now I can see why.

[–] SippyCup@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

For this article? No. For people with retirement accounts? Arguably no.

For people trading daily with an app on their phone? Yes.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

With a retirement accounts it's about gambling with other people's money.

SpaceC was allowed on the Nasdaq super early specifically so they could raid our retirements.

[–] abcdqfr@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I wonder what this figure is like not including the whales throwing around six figure paychecks. hard to spend 10k on a single book or movie ticket or song, ya know...

[–] Nautalax@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Apparently a lot of people (particularly younger generations) are increasingly getting hooked on gambling and are even psy-op’d enough to consider it as a part of their retirement strategy

[–] fluckx@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Not entirely surprised, but surprised it is that high.

When I went there 10 years ago I met people in Vegas who go there every year as their main holiday with a few thousand euro budget to gamble.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm not pro-gambling but I think Vegas vacations are valid - they're special occasions where you get a thrill for your money. What's the difference between a $2000 cruise and a $2000 weekend in Vegas? Both are a waste to me but I see the appeal.

But this is different...it's very much NOT about Vegas (which is struggling), it's the apps. "Sports betting" aka gambling was legalized in 2018.

DraftKings and the rest have been fighting regulations since like...2012? And they won. Which is why there's gambling ads everywhere with very little regulation. It's why polymarket and kalshi exist.

Regulate these internet gambling companies back to the 2000s and the problem mostly goes away.

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[–] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago (3 children)

This is a bit misleading in my opinion... 90% of the money is returned to the bettors per article.

Which is actually more than I expected and a pleasant surprise to me. I'm glad the USA is no longer imprisoning/fining gamblers, it's a sin. Haha get it

[–] Delphia@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Its also really not as insane as it sounds because it will also include all the state lotteries.

166 billion divided by roughly 300 million Americans puts it at about $500 a year. So if you buy a $10 ticket every week you are hitting the national average.

[–] 50MYT@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The insane amount, is that per capita, America is only second.

The graph of all countries average spending per capita on gambling is nice and straight, with America second at about $450 per capita. Then it jumps to the no.1, who spends $2400 per capita on gambling.

Australia

[–] HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 day ago

That does surprise me, I thought it would be one of those tiny tax haven countries.

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[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago

House takes 10%.

[–] Dnb@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 days ago

Well losers lose and the winners win, with the house taking a cut from the middle.

Insane but unsurprising with how bad betting advertising is and prediction market scams.

[–] Jhex@lemmy.world 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

with the intellectual level they have displayed in the last few years, this is no surprise

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[–] starik@lemmy.today 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

How much did the museum industry spend on gambling?

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 5 points 2 days ago

Less than Americans did.

[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

My vices are many but thank god gambling isn't among them.

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[–] ZoteTheMighty@lemmy.zip 5 points 2 days ago

"So you should buy me more books"

-- my wife

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