I have never been what I would consider a prude when it comes to gambling, though I have not historically been much of a gambler outside the confines of NCAA tournament bracket pools.
That being said, gambling as a cultural idea has changed rapidly in the last few years as many forms of gambling have gone from informal and possibly legal to widely legal and universally commercialized. You can’t watch a tv of any sort–much less a sporting event–without being bombarded by gambling commercials, betting lines, and pundits with prop bets. If you listen to a podcast with even an adjacent sporting lens, then it will probably be sponsored by a gambling site, and there will be a segment of “picks.” And the betting markets are not limited to sports, but touch on almost anything you can imagine, from politics to war to economics.
Now, I still don’t think I’m a prude about all this, though honestly I do find it annoying. I know it’s possible to engage in gambling responsibly and to do so while maintaining real financial wellness.
But I am reexamining my priors on this topic. And here’s what I would say: The “line” at which gambling, like alcohol consumption, becomes genuinely bad for us is probably much closer than we would like to think. The habits that we form are costly of our time, attention, and money, and I don’t think the highs are worth the risk. The lives we live in modern times are harried and distracted enough–why add gambling to the already growing pile?
Meaningful Returns 