The House Always Wins: The Business, Politics, and Human Cost of Sports Betting, (Audiobook)

<p><b>An investigative narrative revealing how smartphones, deregulation, and pandemic isolation turned America's pastime into its newest addiction.</b></p><p><i>The House Always Wins</i> traces the rise of legal sports betting from a fringe hobby to a $120-billion-a-year industry, reshaping how Americans watch, wager, and lose. Economist and health policy analyst Roger Bate explores how pandemic isolation, relentless digital marketing, and permissive state policy created a perfect storm of opportunity and risk. Bate draws on original surveys, field interviews, and international case studies to reveal how betting moved from racetracks to smartphones--and how a culture built on self-control began to mistake speed for freedom.</p><p>From suburban bars to billion-dollar platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel, <i>The House Always Wins</i> uncovers the moral and economic contradictions of a market built on human weakness and where over 95 percent of participants lose, some catastrophically. Bate argues that the challenge isn't whether people should gamble, but whether a democracy can manage risk at the speed of an app. Combining investigative reportage with humane insight, this book exposes the hidden arithmetic behind America's newest public-health crisis.</p>

• The House Always Wins: The Business, Politics, and Human Cost of Sports Betting, (Audiobook)
• Author: Blackstone Publishing
• ISBN: 9798228995024
• Format: Audiobook
• Publication Date: 2026-08-04
• Page Count: 0