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Welcome to Skeptical Sunday. I'm your host, Jordan Harbinger. Today I'm here with Skeptical

Sunday co-host writer and researcher Nick Pell, which means, you know, it's going to be a

banger because he only gets the topics that nobody else will do.

Here on the Jordan Harbinger show, we decode the stories, secrets and skills of the world's most fascinating people, and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you. Our mission is to help you become a better informed, more critical thinker. During the week, we have long-form conversations with a variety

of amazing folks, from spies to CEOs, athletes, authors, thinkers, and performers. On Sundays, though,

it's skeptical Sunday. A rotating guest co-host and I are going to break down a topic you may

have never thought about and debunk common misconceptions about that topic, such as GMOs, toothpaste,

crystal healing, ban foods, chem trails, recycling, and more. And if you're new to the show or you're looking for a handy way to tell your friends about the show, I suggest our episode starter packs. These are collections of our favorite episodes on persuasion and negotiation, psychology, disinformation, junk science, crime and cults, and more. That'll help new listeners get a taste of everything we do here on the show. Just visit jordanharbinger.com slash start, or search for us in your Spotify app to get started. All right, here we go. Let me set the scene. A guy at a bar whips out his phone. He's six beers deep and in the middle of watching his favorite team play. Not exactly drunk, but definitely not sober. He decides it's time to put his

mortgage payment on an in-play bet, a bet placed after the game has started. He follows the

sport closely. He knows both teams well. He even knows the spread. Plus, it comes with a risk-free

bet that if he hits both, it's going to pay his mortgage for the entire year. So, why not, right?

Well, of course,

the bet doesn't hit and now five seconds spent on his phone has him wondering how he's going to

stay in his house this month. He's not a habitual loser. In fact, he wins more than he loses,

but when he loses, he loses big and often finds himself worried about how he's going to make

ends meet this month. And he is not alone.

Since the legalization of sports betting at the federal level, there's been a flood of apps that

make it easier than ever to put your hard-earned money on a sure thing. But is any of this a good thing?

Who's making the money and who's losing it? And what are the broader social effects?

Here today to help me raise the stakes is writer and researcher Nick Pell. Are you a gambling man, Nick? I think I know the answer. No, no, no. I trade crypto like a respectable degenerate. Oh, right, yes, totally not gambling. I forgot. No, no, not at all. I use charts and graphs for my gambling. I mean trading. It's called technical analysis, and it's totally not astrology for crypto bros.

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