[zmgsabst]

“People don’t like what I like so they’re wrong!”

Contrary to you, there’s certain sports I find boring to watch as such (eg, American football) — but enjoy in a condensed version focused on bets (eg, RedZone and dailies on American football). The game of predicting individual performance and ensemble outperformance is more interesting to me than the underlying sport — and much more interesting to discuss than any single game.

You don’t have to gamble, but trying to portray it as some grievous fault people enjoy things differently than you is ridiculous.

[hn72774]

I re-read my comment and did not pass any judgement then, nor now. I simply shared my experience.

If you are triggered by something I wrote, that's all on you. I get it, no one dealing with addiction wants to be called out on it. That is less than helpful for either party.

[zmgsabst]

> No one was going for any team in particular. They were cheering for their bets to win. I lost all interest in the idea of me ever gambling after this.

You’re negative here — and I think you know it.

> I get it, no one dealing with addiction wants to be called out on it.

Wowza, calling me “triggered” and an “addict” because I enjoy something differently than you and thought your comment was negative isn’t appropriate.

I think your response here confirms my initial impression that you have issues with this topic.

[hn72774]

"I" lost all interest. That's not a dig at them, or you. I've dealt with my own demons and am very comfortable differentiating between sharing my experience from the "I", and not drifting into giving unwanted advice.

I know myself, and I know if I gambled on my one sport where I follow one team, it would ruin the game for me. I would no longer watch for the intricacies of the game. I get worked up enough without the extra dopamine hits of gambling added into the mix. I hate the fact that half the advertisements are now for a product that ruins lives. My kids are being target with gambling ads when they watch with me.

These are still my old college roommates. Not good friends though. More like drinking buddies. And that's okay. I don't hop on airplanes to go see them anymore because I can get the same quality of interaction from our text message group. I'm at a place in life where I value deeper human connection, and its not there anymore.

That's all on me. I know plenty of people content to watch sports all weekend, with or without gambling. Good for them. It's just not my thing, and both perspectives can coexist just fine. One doesn't invalidate the other.

> You’re negative here — and I think you know it. > you have issues with this topic.

I absolutely have issues with this topic. It's a cancer on society, as the article confirms.

Some in people can gamble and not ruin their lives. Same with drinking. If you are one of those who can moderate in dopamine fueled areas of life, congrats. I can't, so I chose not to participate.

[boogieknite]

I know what you mean in that i gamble when i golf.

golf is boring so i need some action to entertain myself. I suck at golf so i usually lose money, but as long as i go in knowing im risking money for entertainment then its really not unlike any other form of entertainment.

similar to you i prefer placing many small bets in order to keep myself entertained.

[nemo44x]

Golf is boring to you because as you said, you suck at it. When you can play well enough to execute reasonably well the strategic aspect of the game opens up. But yes, match play and betting do make things fun in their own way too!

[robocat]

That's way too judgy.

Maybe they just don't enjoy the sport: they could get better at it and still not like it.

You would love water ballet if you learnt the intricacies of it.

[nemo44x]

Golf is so hard you can’t possibly get good at it and not love it. People golf for a variety of reasons. I play with guys that are relatively terrible because they never practice because it’s just not important to them. They don’t golf because they love the game but rather because they like to get out and away from everything for a few hours and to socialize.

A lot of times people do things they don’t find too interesting because they really like the side effects. I used to play cards with friends that took it seriously and I never really won and wasn’t too into it but it was fun to hang out.