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Mort Olshan
Mort Olshan is the founder and editor of The Gold
Sheet, America’s leading sports handicapping publication.
Since 1957 The Gold Sheet has been providing
expertise, analysis, and the largest pointspread database
in the world to the sports betting public. You can
visit the website at: www.goldsheet.com.
Other Articles by Mort:
Coming Soon!
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IF SOMEBODY ASKED ME, I’D
SAY...
by Mort Olshan
"Men will have, and must have, their pleasures. Social reformers
and temperance agitators could not make a greater mistake than by
following the example of the Puritans and tabooing all pleasures."
-Henry T. Finck-
It never ceases to amaze that when the government decides to investigate
the effects of gambling on our society it appoints a panel comprised
of individuals with doubtful qualifications.
Perhaps the most preposterous of the more than one hundred proposals
considered by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission is a plan
to ban betting on college sports, including wagers taken at sports
books in Nevada. There is neither the time, nor the inclination here,
to delve into the panel's other absurd recommendations.
Two-and-a-half million tourists visited Las Vegas in 1952. In 1998
the number reached more than thirty million, making it one of the
most popular destinations in the world, as well as being the fastest
growing city in the U.S.
Can there be any question that this has something to do with the fact
one can engage in legalized gambling there? It's quite remarkable
when you can carve out a chunk of the desert where only the cactus
grew, and make it one of the most popular vacation spots in the world.
The spectacular skyline of magnificent hotels compares with most any
on earth. Certainly, the government panel must be aware it is bucking
an inexorable trend that has seen 48 states become engaged in some
form of gambling. And the projections for betting on the Internet
are mind-boggling.
Don't these people realize that banning college sports betting has
less of a chance of succeeding than prohibition did 75 years ago?
The gambling urge they are trying to control has been fascinating
human beings for five thousand years (China). Three thousand years
ago, hieroglyphics depicting various games of gambling were discovered
on the pyramids at the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes.
Isn't is a bit presumptuous for the panel to suggest that laws should
be passed which would legislate an end to this normal appetite shared
by many millions of people over thousands of years? What's more, why
this effort now to prohibit something that entertains, excites, stimulates,
and brings recreation and fun to some somewhat otherwise lackluster
lives?
I don't believe we need a group of individuals setting policies for
the behavior of another group. Especially when that defining panel
is uninformed about the subject upon which it seeks to impose its
own definition of morality.
More than 2,000 years ago the Roman philosopher Cicero compiled what
he considered to be the prime six mistakes of man; one of which, appropriately,
follows:
Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.
Let these holier-than-thou pious gentlemen enjoy their own interests
and allow others to enjoy theirs. I don't think their outside direction
is particularly needed, wanted or appreciated. Why not let everyone
do his or her own thing, as long as they're not hurting anyone, and
we'll have a happier world? And, for goodness sake, let's not allow
the 5% junkies to set rules for the 95% who are just having fun and
bothering nobody. The two major reasons why people like to bet, according
to many research surveys, including those taken by The Gold Sheet,
are:
The inexplicable excitement and the intellectual challenge.
There are few occasions in which, for a $50 investment, you can become
engrossed in a game for three hours of exciting action. Win or lose,
it's a wonderful diversion from life's routine agenda.
Few extracurricular enterprises engage one's mind to analyze the risks,
weigh the probabilities, and make evaluations, as does sports betting.
It's not bad training for more important decisions.
Like so many things in our society, the media has shaped our attitudes
with dramatic and distorted portrayals of people and events. If it
weren't for these vivid, but inaccurate characterizations dwelling
on the negative five percent, gambling would not be on the defensive,
carrying the stigma it still sometimes does.
The fact is, I defy anyone to name an activity in which there are
no risks. For example; alcohol, the stock market, driving, eating,
credit cards, marriage, business investments, and, yes, skateboarding
and hang gliding. Bottom line, is there anything in our lives that
doesn't involve some degree of chance? Because a small percentage
of individuals are bent on destruction is no reason to forbid a recreation
enjoyed by 95% of responsible citizens.
At a dinner party recently, one of the guests was telling me how he
is an active participant in a rather steep fantasy football league.
Interestingly, he articulated the pleasure of betting on sports as
well as anyone I've ever heard. He said he bought a $100,000 worth
of enjoyment for his thousand-dollar entry fee.
I think that's the point the anti-gambling forces miss completely.
These moralists want to determine what it is we should do or not do
with our free time and our own money. Golfers can leave their families
four or five times a week and spend an average of a $100 or more to
play their favorite game and no one complains. That's the way it should
be. And there are countless other respectable hobbies people pursue.
Can anyone really argue that playing, and often wagering, on a golfing
match 4-plus hours is really different from watching a football game
with a $50 bet for three hours?
I don't think there is a need for a new government agency, The Department
of Recreation, with a Secretary of Fun cabinet officer to set guidelines.
Broadly speaking, life is a gamble; one long series of chance-takings,
wagers, and bets, though money may not be involved in all these risks.
If gambling is immoral or wrong, then why do so many churches conduct
bingo games or casino nights in which luck is involved?
If games of chance are sinful, then how did it happen that the Good
Lord Himself, through the prophet Moses, instructed Joshua to divide
the Promised Land among the ten tribes of Israel by lot?
We are not a nation of babysitters. We can't control the behavior
of all who lack self-control. Art Schlichter, the former All-American
Ohio State quarterback, has become the poster-boy for the anti-gambling
forces. It is indeed tragic how Schlichter has ruined his life. But
is than any reason to prohibit the other 95% from enjoying theirs?
As far as a ban on betting college sports, it seems remarkable to
us that college sports have remained as clean as they have. Wherever
money is involved, unfortunately, there is likely to be some corruption.
Just check the business community. There is more fraud there in a
month than has been seen in the sports world since the basketball
scandals of the 1950s. Look no further than recent headlines about
Salt Lake City and the Winter Olympics.
But, alas, until the media take away their cameras from the 5% abusers,
I'm afraid that the portrait of the gambler will always be an antipathetic
one, filled with vulgar stereotypical images. Don't they realize the
Edward G. Robinson, Mickey Rooney, and James Caan gambling caricatures
disappeared with high-button shoes?
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