Trump administration pushing aggressive expansion of sports betting

FireDragon76 · 2026-02-20T06:22:23-0600

Polymarket and similar platforms are essentially unregulated sports betting:

Trump admin backs Kalshi, Polymarket—What It could mean for sports gamblers

The Trump administration is backing prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket in a legal battle that could change how sports gambling is regulated nationwide.

www.newsweek.com

Most Protestant churches in the US have historically had a negative view of gambling. At one time many board games in the US didn't even include dice, they used tops or spinners, because dice had such negative associations. Fiorello La Guardia, the iconic mayor of New York during the Depression and WWII, was a committed Protestant (Episcopalian), and even smashed up some pinball machines once in a symbolic act of rejecting the expansion of gambling to youth. It's strange that there's so little comment from the Evangelical movement about the aggressive expansion of gambling, when there used to be widespread agreement among Protestants that gambling should not be a routine part of public life.

Desk trauma · 2026-02-20T06:44:19-0600

FireDragon76 said:
It's strange that there's so little comment from the Evangelical movement about the aggressive expansion of gambling, when there used to be widespread agreement among Protestants that gambling should not be a routine part of public life.

No, it isn't.

Richard T · 2026-02-20T07:20:13-0600

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/296755/trumps-social-media-platform-truth-social-to-allow-betting

Trump's own Truth Social stock symbol DJT is going into betting markets. Anything for a dollar I guess. I just posted an article on Trump's son's who have plans with "stable crypto coins."

Maria Billingsley · 2026-02-20T07:51:35-0600

FireDragon76 said:
Polymarket and similar platforms are essentially unregulated sports betting:

Trump admin backs Kalshi, Polymarket—What It could mean for sports gamblers

The Trump administration is backing prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket in a legal battle that could change how sports gambling is regulated nationwide.

www.newsweek.com

Most Protestant churches in the US have historically had a negative view of gambling. At one time many board games in the US didn't even include dice, they used tops or spinners, because dice had such negative associations. Fiorello La Guardia, the iconic mayor of New York during the Depression and WWII, was a committed Protestant (Episcopalian), and even smashed up some pinball machines once in a symbolic act of rejecting the expansion of gambling to youth. It's strange that there's so little comment from the Evangelical movement about the aggressive expansion of gambling, when there used to be widespread agreement among Protestants that gambling should not be a routine part of public life.

All I can say is......

Just more evil comming out of this administration.

When will Christian supporters wake up! It is undeniable that the facts demand repentance from this allegiance.

Be blessed.

FireDragon76 · 2026-02-20T11:13:09-0600

Richard T said:
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/296755/trumps-social-media-platform-truth-social-to-allow-betting

Trump's own Truth Social stock symbol DJT is going into betting markets. Anything for a dollar I guess. I just posted an article on Trump's son's who have plans with "stable crypto coins."

Betting markets are essentially predatory and extractive... the house always wins, as they say. You aren't just playing against the odds, you're also playing against the broker. A big part of the appeal is ignorance of statistics and reliance on magical thinking, and now days, engagement mechanisms and neuromarketting.

Larniavc · 2026-02-20T11:15:15-0600

FireDragon76 said:
Polymarket and similar platforms are essentially unregulated sports betting:

Trump admin backs Kalshi, Polymarket—What It could mean for sports gamblers

The Trump administration is backing prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket in a legal battle that could change how sports gambling is regulated nationwide.

www.newsweek.com

Most Protestant churches in the US have historically had a negative view of gambling. At one time many board games in the US didn't even include dice, they used tops or spinners, because dice had such negative associations. Fiorello La Guardia, the iconic mayor of New York during the Depression and WWII, was a committed Protestant (Episcopalian), and even smashed up some pinball machines once in a symbolic act of rejecting the expansion of gambling to youth. It's strange that there's so little comment from the Evangelical movement about the aggressive expansion of gambling, when there used to be widespread agreement among Protestants that gambling should not be a routine part of public life.

Grift potential.

FireDragon76 · 2026-02-20T11:33:29-0600

Larniavc said:
Grift potential.

The problem from a traditional Christian moral standpoint is that running a grift on your neighbor is the kind of stuff that prophets in the Bible spend more time criticizing than they do about the sexual behaviors of their neighbors (in fact one of the prophets, Hosea, actually married a prostitute). The conservative movement has reduced a consistent life ethic, a holistic understanding of what human life is for... down to visceral disgust and sexual insecurity about women, gays and transpeople.

Pommer · 2026-02-20T12:22:46-0600

Human beings are remarkably bad at predicting future events (and outcomes of events) but almost nobody believes that they themselves are remarkably bad at these.
This is the basis of gambling.

ThatRobGuy · 2026-02-20T18:17:57-0600

FireDragon76 said:
It's strange that there's so little comment from the Evangelical movement about the aggressive expansion of gambling, when there used to be widespread agreement among Protestants that gambling should not be a routine part of public life.

Not really... "protestant" casts a wide net.

Not all protestants are evangelicals.

There was probably a time back in the 1800's when perhaps it was more stigmatized.

But based on my experience in the times I've been in Casino's, I see a heck of a lot of people in there, and common sense and statistics would dictate they're not all Catholics.

ThatRobGuy · 2026-02-20T18:21:59-0600

Maria Billingsley said:
Just more evil comming out of this administration.

As long as odds are disclosed, what makes gambling inherently "evil"?

It may be stupid and risky, but if we criminalized or prohibited everything that was stupid or risky, we'd have a very different legal landscape. I would've gotten a ticket for eating that spicy steak bowl from Chipotle 20 minutes before my strategy meeting last week.

Maria Billingsley · 2026-02-20T18:34:49-0600

ThatRobGuy said:
As long as odds are disclosed, what makes gambling inherently "evil"?

It may be stupid and risky, but if we criminalized or prohibited everything that was stupid or risky, we'd have a very different legal landscape. I would've gotten a ticket for eating that spicy steak bowl from Chipotle 20 minutes before my strategy meeting last week.

Because prediction markets are dangerous and the President( TMTG) , Truth Predict, just expanded his company to do so. This is self dealing.
When will MAGA see the evil in this administration.
Let us reason....PLEASE!

ThatRobGuy · 2026-02-20T20:35:43-0600

Maria Billingsley said:
Because prediction markets are dangerous and the President( TMTG) , Truth Predict, just expanded his company to do so. This is self dealing.
When will MAGA see the evil in this administration.
Let us reason....PLEASE!

I'm not a MAGA person

But we can't base our reasoning on "what did Trump support these last few days? Okay, we need to oppose that"

A) It's subject to change in a few days

B) It would undercut our own previous arguments on certain matters/issues

Let's just be real...pretend there were no Trump, and it was just some stereotypical classic republican cracking down against gambling. Liberals would find a reason to defend the right to gambling, right?

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater... A republican doing something in defiance of what the most staunch religious people want should be considered a win, not a loss.

FireDragon76 · 2026-02-20T23:09:49-0600

ThatRobGuy said:
Not really... "protestant" casts a wide net.

Not all protestants are evangelicals.

There was widespread agreement among Protestants of all kinds that gambling was sinful as late as the 1980's. Did everybody refrain from gambling? No, peoples lives have always been complicated. That doesn't mean it wasn't a real consensus.

ThatRobGuy said:
There was probably a time back in the 1800's when perhaps it was more stigmatized.

But based on my experience in the times I've been in Casino's, I see a heck of a lot of people in there, and common sense and statistics would dictate they're not all Catholics.

That's due to secularism and religious indifference. Peoples lives are no longer shaped by the social ethics of Christianity as much as they once were, they are shaped by market logic, which increasingly looks like gambler logic.

Pommer · 2026-02-21T00:36:05-0600

Maria Billingsley said:
Because prediction markets are dangerous and the President( TMTG) , Truth Predict, just expanded his company to do so. This is self dealing.
When will MAGA see the evil in this administration.
Let us reason....PLEASE!

If the President desires to use his office to enrich himself, that’s “fine”, says I.
Make it a bit “difficult“ though, and make him fight for it, lest he does something “else” if he gets bored of it.

ThatRobGuy · 2026-02-21T08:35:10-0600

FireDragon76 said:
That's due to secularism and religious indifference. Peoples lives are no longer shaped by the social ethics of Christianity as much as they once were, they are shaped by market logic, which increasingly looks like gambler logic.

Given that our governmental structure is supposed to be based on secularism and religious indifference, then that would be mean that decisions about expanding gambling being made for secular reasons, and not making legal decisions based on catering to a religious viewpoint, would be the correct approach then, right?

I think this is where some people on the left undercut their own previous arguments a bit.

All throughout the 80's-2000's, one of the top critiques the left made about the GOP was surrounding how the GOP had been captured by the "religious right" (Falwell, Dobson & Co.) and were trying to govern based via Evangelical-favoring policies.

Yet, any time a republican comes along who breaks away from that paradigm to any degree, the first critique that gets lobbed is to call people out for not demanding strict adherence to religious principles.

Say it aint so · 2026-02-21T12:53:30-0600

ThatRobGuy said:
Given that our governmental structure is supposed to be based on secularism and religious indifference, then that would be mean that decisions about expanding gambling being made for secular reasons, and not making legal decisions based on catering to a religious viewpoint, would be the correct approach then, right?

I think this is where some people on the left undercut their own previous arguments a bit.

All throughout the 80's-2000's, one of the top critiques the left made about the GOP was surrounding how the GOP had been captured by the "religious right" (Falwell, Dobson & Co.) and were trying to govern based via Evangelical-favoring policies.

Yet, any time a republican comes along who breaks away from that paradigm to any degree, the first critique that gets lobbed is to call people out for not demanding strict adherence to religious principles.

Or maybe it's just rank hypocrisy?
It's one party who have wrapped themselves in the flag of Christian principles and family values (what ever that means). But it's mutual. The Falwell Dobson types have used the party to gain power, and by mutuality the party also gained power in that flag wrapping. This is not just "a republican comes along" its a group of people who wraps themselves in the Christian flag but couldn't tell you what their favorite verse. The current gambling pushing regime is the same regime who let food supply rot then provide it for those in need who literally are dying. And the Falwell, Dobson, Graham types don't care because the end justifies the means.

Aryeh Jay · 2026-02-21T13:50:53-0600

If sports betting is like a casino, we should be fine.

DaisyDay · 2026-02-21T15:26:28-0600

Pommer said:
Human beings are remarkably bad at predicting future events (and outcomes of events) but almost nobody believes that they themselves are remarkably bad at these.
This is the basis of gambling.

But there's something else that affects a lot of people - the addictive thrill. I'm lucky that I don't have that particular addiction at all. I once worked for a hedge fund manager and I found it stressful even though it wasn't my money.

I have noticed that practically every other ad on YouTube is for polymarket betting. This is really bad for compulsive gamblers.

I had a math teacher who often ended his lecture with "...and that's why you shouldn't bet on the horses". My big takeaway was that the only good position to take was to be the House.

ThatRobGuy · 2026-02-21T18:29:49-0600

Say it aint so said:
Or maybe it's just rank hypocrisy?
It's one party who have wrapped themselves in the flag of Christian principles and family values (what ever that means). But it's mutual. The Falwell Dobson types have used the party to gain power, and by mutuality the party also gained power in that flag wrapping. This is not just "a republican comes along" its a group of people who wraps themselves in the Christian flag but couldn't tell you what their favorite verse. The current gambling pushing regime is the same regime who let food supply rot then provide it for those in need who literally are dying. And the Falwell, Dobson, Graham types don't care because the end justifies the means.

For it to be rank hypocrisy, it would have to be something that the voter bloc was still actively against very recently and suddenly doing a 180 on it.

On the subject of gambling, stigmas started fading on that subject back in the early 2010's.

(this PBS/NPR piece is from 2012)

When it comes to gambling, politicial parties find common ground - WHYY

It seems like America’s political parties have never been more polarized. But when it comes to state-regulated gambling, they’re often playing the same hand. Unfortunately, it’s a losing one.

whyy.org

...and has been going up ever since

Acceptance of Gambling Reaches New Heights

A record-high 69% of Americans now say gambling is morally acceptable -- further evidence that the shift toward more liberal views on social issues continues.

news.gallup.com

If it were a case of something like a republican administration expanding legalized prostitution and pornography, and then all of the Christian supporters suddenly flipped and didn't see it as a problem because Trump said it was good, then that would be rank hypocrisy, because they were still actively against those things yesterday, and only flipped because of something Trump said.

However, with regards to gambling and sports betting, the polling shows that it's been gaining acceptance steadily for the past 15 years.

There's no one demographic group where over half say gambling is morally wrong. The closest is people who attend church more than once a week (and even that's close to a 50/50 split)

Even among the group that attends church nearly weekly, 63% are cool with it.

FireDragon76 · 2026-02-21T18:42:10-0600

ThatRobGuy said:
For it to be rank hypocrisy, it would have to be something that the voter bloc was still actively against very recently and suddenly doing a 180 on it.

On the subject of gambling, stigmas started fading on that subject back in the early 2010's.

(this PBS/NPR piece is from 2012)

When it comes to gambling, politicial parties find common ground - WHYY

It seems like America’s political parties have never been more polarized. But when it comes to state-regulated gambling, they’re often playing the same hand. Unfortunately, it’s a losing one.

whyy.org

...and has been going up ever since

Acceptance of Gambling Reaches New Heights

A record-high 69% of Americans now say gambling is morally acceptable -- further evidence that the shift toward more liberal views on social issues continues.

news.gallup.com

View attachment 376801

If it were a case of something like a republican administration expanding legalized prostitution and pornography, and then all of the Christian supporters suddenly flipped and didn't see it as a problem because Trump said it was good, then that would be rank hypocrisy, because they were still actively against those things yesterday, and only flipped because of something Trump said.

However, with regards to gambling and sports betting, the polling shows that it's been gaining acceptance steadily for the past 15 years.

View attachment 376802

There's no one demographic group where over half say gambling is morally wrong. The closest is people who attend church more than once a week (and even that's close to a 50/50 split)

Even among the group that attends church nearly weekly, 63% are cool with it.

Saying gambling is 'morally acceptable' in a poll probably just means 'I don't think my neighbor is a bad person for gambling' - especially in a country where morality is understood in strictly individualistic terms. That's a very different question from whether prediction markets should be aggressively deregulated by an administration that has direct financial stakes in the outcome. When you can only think about morality as individual choice and individual judgment, you lose the ability to even ask the structural question - is an industry designed to exploit cognitive biases and addictive behavior something we should be expanding? You don't need religion to recognize that there's a difference between tolerating something and actively building infrastructure to scale it up. Public policy requires more than asking people whether they personally judge gamblers - it requires actual expertise about how these markets function and serious thinking about what kind of economic relationships we're normalizing.

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Trump administration pushing aggressive expansion of sports betting

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"Larniavc sir, how are you so smart?"

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CoPacEtiC SkEpTic

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Stuck on a ship.

I Did Nothing Wrong!! ~~Team Deep State

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