I do not bet on sports. I was married before I really even understood the rules of football. My wife had to explain them to me. I love to watch sports, but I do not understand or keep up with the stats, fantasy football, etc.
I am mostly alone among my friends in that regard. On Sundays, a group of friends sit on my porch. Between the cigars, food, and bourbon, most of them use an app and place small bets on the games we are watching. I don’t understand it. They tend to break even.
In Georgia, it is technically unlawful to do that. I have one friend who has a bookie and uses an app that requires an offshore account for his winnings. He’s up about $20,000.00 right now. It’s actually related to a business product he is testing, but he has had to use offshore banks because Georgia makes it impossible.
In Georgia, one can openly carry their lawfully acquired machine gun into grocery store without bringing about the downfall of society, but the sports bets pretty much everyone is already doing will collapse society if made legal.
I oppose a casino in Georgia. I think Las Vegas is in the desert for a reason. Casinos are a signal that the government has given up trying to solve problems.
Sports betting is not a casino. It has been going on since ancient times. It is happening in Georgia right now. It is a different issue than the legalization of drugs because no one is getting behind the wheel high on a wager. Allowing sports betting because people are already doing it is a fundamentally different argument than allowing recreational marijuana because people are already doing it.
Opponents want to lump them together.
I believe gambling is a big problem. I think a lot of people get in over their head with it. In Georgia, I see poor people spending piles of money on lottery tickets in hopes of a one-off chance of winning. Sports betting has better odds. One is allowed, and the other is not.
It’s time for the Georgia legislature to approve sports betting in Georgia. It’s already happening. Stop criminalizing a multi-thousand-year-old communal activity already happening even under the Gold Dome among the legislators themselves.
Regulate it. Tax it. Allow it. Kill the casino. Allow wagers on UGA’s upcoming season. We only slide down a slippery slope if we choose to. We can choose sports betting without choosing casinos and recreational weed. We can make that choice. We should.
I don’t gamble, I don’t drink alcohol or smoke also don’t buy drugs from unlicensed pharmacists.
I vote to please Jesus.See how easy that is.
As a voter . I vote no . Sure it’s a free society but that doesn’t mean anything goes. What if your actions prevented someone from accepting Jesus as their Savior.