If betting on the stock market is legal, then why is betting on sports not?

Author: Aaron Lisker
Image: Paula Anderanin

If the place you work at has retirement benefits, you are going to be encouraged to invest in the company’s 401k plan.  If you have baby boomers or people over 40 in your workplace, they are going to constantly be talking about their 401k and their portfolios and will avidly watch CNBC because they have it all figured out.

They have it figured out and they encourage you to join their legal gambling in a form of a retirement plan.  It is called financial advising or retirement planning because that makes it sound like what it isn’t, which is an educated bet on who you invested your money with growing into a nice amount that allows you to enjoy retirement.

Gambling in casinos, on the horses, the lottery, bingo, 401k’s, IRA’s and the stock market are legal I believe in just about every state.  But you know what isn’t legal in just about every state? Sports gambling, office pools, and gambling fantasy sports leagues.
Gambling on sports is only legal in Las Vegas.  It can, also, be done offshore through the Internet.

Now, the business professors, stockbrokers, and financial advisors of the world are, sometimes, elegant in their appearance and manner of talking.  The people that are sports bookies and experts might have nicknames like Jimmy The Greek or Big Pussy. Some high rolling sports gamblers might be balding with ponytails or might dress like they are characters out of the ’80’s TV show Dallas.

The sports gambling industry might not look classy and it isn’t.  But, if you went to college, then you probably knew the pretty boy that got all the girls and acted like he knew everything, but was really just talking out of his ass.  This same guy most likely wound up being a stockbroker, financial adviser or otherwise working in the banking or financial industries.

After the banking bailout, giant stock market plunges, and maybe looking at your own 401K and IRA, it is tough to act like a know-it-all.

But why is it that financial investing is legal, while sports gambling, fantasy and office pools for money are not? Some morbid people have celebrity death pools.  An even more morbid thought is if you are in one of those pool types you might have just made more money on Amy Winehouse’s death, then what your 401k has this year.

Last year, a homeless man won ESPN’s fantasy challenge.  He won a $3,500 Best Buy gift card on ESPN.com for having the best fantasy football team in the world.  I am willing to bet that is more than his 401K made last year.

However, I’d rather trust the people with business degrees with my money instead of investing in something like Ball State minus 7½ versus Akron, or fantasy/office pools. But, if one gamble is legal, then, they all should be legal.  CNBC and ESPN are both watched for the same reasons.  Hoping a scrub on the bench doesn’t hit a three pointer at the buzzer to ruin your bet on the basketball game shouldn’t be considered worse than investing in Chinese penny stocks.

If you are going to invest your money or bet on anything, be careful and know the possible consequences.  After all, no bet is a safe bet.