ROBINHOOD GETS INTO SPORTS BETTING | Robinhood Weekly #12

Roy is underestimating the amount of gambling out there, Amit grow up and have an adult conversation about gambling- start with yourself

I live in Las Vegas and actually run a local gaming bar! People have to make their own choices. I love the idea that Robinhood is adding so many products to the app, I love all the different avenues of revenue, especially being a HOOD stock holder...but I can tell you first hand that I will never click on or gamble in Robinhood. Everyone has to have the self discipline. I hope no one ever goes broke because of this but there are so many people that actually gamble for a living or gamble for fun. Let them have an avenue and let us reap the benefits of a higher stock price with all the additions. Again I hope they are gambling money allocated for that and not using their investment money, their IRA's or life savings.

Betting on sports is not degenerate gambling. There are degenerate gamblers but you cannot compare betting on sports to memecoins. Memecoins are far worse than sports gambling.

I dont get how amit is so fixated on one side of the argument. I am with roy here and so happy that he had the nerve to bring his side of the argument. The reputational hit to hood is definetely there. Just imagine the headline in a newspaper. 25 y old draws money from his roth to gambling on rhe lakers and lost everything. How is amit blind to this? If I were Roy I would have given up on trying to explain it to him. I guess being a father provides you with a lot of patience. Amit doesn't give a fuck about what happens to people using the app as long as they r squeezed for their money. Same with the stock market. He doesnt give a fuck about people losing jobs a long as the stock market goes up. He has really changed over the years. Thank you Roy for standing up to it using common sense and humility.

Roy clearly said 5-10% have a "gambling problem" and amit goes "wowowow you say that 5 million people have a medically diagnosed gambling addiction"...i mean...did you do well in your "debate clubs" with that kind of twisting words? That almost sounded like some trump fact spitting. Please just try to see the other person's point instead of trying to impose your "one truth" to everyone.

Sports betting is not gambling! Its net positive.

love the content and I've wrestled with this for awhile. Especially coming from Singapore where most people still think investing is gambling. Now I for one don't think investing is gambling at least based on my own definition of gambling and I'm definitely looking forward to HOOD finally coming to Singapore. And this kinda resonates with a huge debate we had previously when Singapore first opened Casinos

I think no matter how you want to define gambling, the question is whether gambling is bad? Now I know for a fact in Singapore a large portion of our population gambles over Chinese New Year. And for many ppl, they see it as 'I wanna spend time with my friends & family and this is the cost of entry' no different to spending money on a movie ticket or escape room. They play until they run out of money and that's them for the night. So in that context gambling becomes a social activity and that I think most ppl can agree is fine.

And that's where the nuance comes in, because if gambling can be acceptable in certain context why is it unacceptable in others? I think because the general notion is gamblers bet more than they can lose and ultimately their loved ones suffer the consequences, but as Amit pointed out gambling takes on various forms. Because yes someone can keep buying lottery tickets, bet on sports and lose their house but so can the person taking out margin to buy short term options. So the gambling itself is not the problem is the inability to control yourself from betting more than you can lose is the problem. And that is greed.

Gambling as a social activity doesn't destroy lives, but greed does. and I think to Roy's point, I agree that there will be reputational damage. In fact I don't think moving this to a separate app solves the problem. HOOD's brand will still be associated with this. The thing is there is only so much HOOD can do, people didn't become greedy because of HOOD. People are already greedy by nature and I think the worry is that HOOD is seen as a company that enables the degeneracy.

So if I think about how Singapore dealt with the opening of Casinos, basically there was a barrage of advertisements and information put out about the social effects of gambling and various helplines that families can call for help. In addition, a Singaporean needs to pay a $150 entry fee to the Casino, so you're already down before you even play and stacking the odds against you deters ppl from even trying.

And the point I'm trying to point across is that HOOD can't help everyone. What was discussed is a social issue and not a company issue. I don't think Roy is wrong in his worry but I also agree with Amit that if ppl want to gamble they'll find ways to gamble. HOOD can put some restrictions etc of course they can. But I think when Amit says it doesn't matter and people will learn, I think the assumption is people will respond in the same way he did. But that's not always the case and that's how ppl end up in bad situations and that impacts society as a whole but this is a whole other topic. Everything is nuanced, can this turn gamblers into investors? Sure. Can this turn casual gamblers into degenerates? Sure. But if we're talking about the latter making a separate app doesn't solve that issue. It just make Robinhood's hands appear slightly less 'dirty' but ultimately I don't think they should be soley responsible for the outcomes and that's where they have to work with relevant authorities as the Casinos did in Singapore

Listening to you here Amit makes me think you’re the person to say ”Just stop drinking” to an alcoholic or ”Just stop eating” to some one who is overweight. Try see things from others perspective. You sound like you have no sympathy towards people with addictions here. Also im not a hood hater nor do i hate you, just feel you’re super off here 😊🫶

I kind of Agree with Roy

Frank is cooking

Spread love.... ❤❤❤❤

Besides the morality of this, we also take into consideration the perception of people. It can have an impact on that regard no matter how do you feel about it