A couple of weeks ago, I was in class, and I saw one of my classmates on Kalshi. It was the day after the Superbowl, so I immediately began thinking about gambling. 78.52 billion dollars were spent on commercial gambling in 2025(“Commercial Gaming”). Think about that number for a second. People spent 71.49 billion dollars on betting on who would win the NBA championship, nights at the casino, the lottery, and more. In the past five years, I have seen a noticeable increase in the access to gambling. We’re seeing individuals that gamble hurt themselves, but in addition, hurt those around them.
The Transition from Gambling to Prediction Markets
There are a number of different gambling platforms like BetMGM and FanDuel, but in recent years there has been a growth in prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. According to their website, this is Kalshi:
“Kalshi is the first CFTC regulated exchange dedicated to trading on the outcome of future events. From inflation, to fed rates, to unemployment, to will the government shut down, Kalshi allows people to trade on a broad range of topics. We’ve developed a new asset class, event contracts, where you can buy Yes or No positions with respect to whether an event will happen or not. Kalshi’s vision is to allow people to capitalize on their opinions, trade in the domain of every day, and hedge risks that relate to them.
All of this jargon essentially means that instead of stocks people can put their money into outcomes of different events. For example, a person could buy into the “How many times will the word bucket be said at an NBA game?” market. If their number is correct, they get a return, but if it isn’t, they lose. Countless numbers of these markets exist on the website. Kalshi claims that markets are typically settled within a couple hours, and payment is sent to users’ cash balance. You know what this sounds eerily similar to? Gambling.
Who Do Prediction Markets Hurt
What’s troublesome about prediction markets is that the age limit is 18. The founders of Kalshi and Polymarket created these companies to pounce on people in the 18 to under 21 age range. Prediction markets are the pipeline to gambling. Eighteen year olds start on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket then transition to the big leagues like DraftKings and BetMGM.
These companies are marketed as a way of trading on future events. People predict whether a certain outcome will occur, put money down on that prediction, and hope to make a return. Prediction markets are like the gentrified version of gambling. Instead of going to a bar or casino to make a bet, users make it from the comfort of their home. Future markets are likened it to trading on the stock market as opposed to what it actually is: gambling.
Why Gambling is Troubling
Besides Kalshi and Polymarket, gambling itself is a growing problem in younger generations because a lot of us don’t realize the habits we’re picking up by engaging in betting platforms. Instead of getting jobs, younger people are relying on bets to pay for groceries, rent, and other basic necessities. It’s alarming. I watched a video where a college student was being interviewed about their day to day routine. The student mentioned how he only eats if the parlays are in his favor. His ability to eat was dependent on whether or not a certain sports team was having a good year. How did we get here?
The most concerning thing is the links between gambling and domestic violence. I read a study conducted by Dr. James Banks and Dr. Jaime Waters where they interviewed 26 women on how gambling contributed to intimate partner violence(IPV) in their relationship, and the tactics involved. It was a very enlightening paper because it elucidated how gamblers manipulated and hurt their partners to justify their gambling habit. For women that had joint bank accounts with their partners, the gambling habits of their partners posed great strain on their financial freedom. Sometimes the partners would use violence and intimidation to extract more money from the participants. Gambling even exacerbated the physician violence faced by the women. To think that we could start seeing IPV like this in young eighteen year olds because of gambling is horrific.
Of the individuals gambling online daily, men make up the majority(“Americans gamble online”). Because of the “male loneliness epidemic”, men seek connection through things like gambling. They want to be a part of the side that wins even if it’s from the isolation of their bedroom.
I don’t know why people choose to gamble, but I can only hope that we all wake up and realize the detrimental effects of this hobby. Thank you all for reading this week’s post. Make sure to subscribe to be notified of new ones. Stay sharp 😉
Sources
- Banks, James, and Jaime Waters. “An examination of the Interrelationship between disordered gambling and intimate partner violence.” International Review of Victimology, vol. 29, no. 2, 18 Jan. 2022, pp. 277–292, https://doi.org/10.1177/02697580211065508.
- Staff. “Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker – American Gaming Association.” American Gaming Association, 26 Feb. 2026, www.americangaming.org/resources/commercial-gaming-revenue-tracker/.
- Staff. “More than a Quarter of Americans Gamble Online Daily, but Frequent Gamblers Likely to Self-Impose BR.” Psychiatry.Org – More Than a Quarter of Americans Gamble Online Daily, But Frequent Gamblers Likely to Self-Impose Br, 17 Mar. 2025, www.psychiatry.org/news-room/news-releases/more-than-a-quarter-of-americans-gamble-online-dai.