There are many reasons why sports are so captivating and wide-reaching to audiences around the world. First of all, there are so many sports, so there is almost definitely one for everyone. Whether people like to play them or hate them, watch them or keep tabs on their city’s team, sports are easy to become invested in, especially for people who put money on it.
The legal age for buying a lottery ticket is 18 in Kansas, but for sports betting, one needs to wait until they are 21 in order to partake. However, this doesn’t stop many high schoolers at Manhattan High School from joining in on the fun, illegally.
“So growing up, you know, I’ve always been a huge sports guy. I love to play sports, and when I’m not playing sports, I watch sports,” senior Rodney Smith* said. “Sports gambling just gives you an adrenaline rush whenever you’re watching the game and it makes the games that aren’t usually exciting, exciting.”
One major problem with online gambling is that gambling websites are illegal for people younger than 21, meaning they block minors from using the site unless they are betting on the players themselves, which is legal at 18. However, people who sports bet have found ways to get past the legality issue.
“Me and my dad have a great relationship and he’s a big, big sports gambling guy, so some days I’ll just sit down with him and get our picks in together,” Smith said. “The other way to go about it is using your parent’s social security number. There’s a big trust there using that, but it’s a perfect way to pass the firewall.”
Illegal sports betting for high school students has become extremely popular in the last couple years, with a decently large Manhattan High School following. One reason for it’s popularity is the addicting nature behind the potential of winning big.
“I’ve never talked to my parents about it, but if I’m not losing money, I don’t think they care if I show up with more money one day and they’re like, ‘Where’d you get this?’ and I’m like, ‘Sports gambling,’” senior Marcus Pratt* said. “They’ll be like ‘Oh, that’s all you.’”
However, not every bet results in a big win. While a lot of times, they wake up to more money in their bank account, they’ve all experienced the losses of a missed field goal or basket.
“I had just won probably $85 and I threw a $60 wager on a Russian ping-pong player and he ended up losing, so that was a pretty rough loss for me,” Smith said.
Because of the high-risk, high-reward nature of sports betting, participants need to be careful with their bets. That is why there is a lot of strategy involved with where to place bets.
“They try to trick you with the parlay,” Smith said. “There was a statistic back a couple months ago that was, the casino, 90% of their income comes from money placed on parlays.”
Every sports better is different, which means different money-making strategies.
“I’m going to have to disagree with [Smith] here,” senior John Nguyen* said. “I kind of have a strategy to this. I lay down about a two dollar parlay everyday on 14 to 20 legs easy.”
On a parlay, one bets on multiple different things, but has to get all of them right to get money. On a straight bet, you only bet on one thing. Nguyen believes that a parlay with 14 or 20 different bets is the best way to go, however, Pratt has a different opinion than both Nguyen and Smith.
“Honestly, I feel like player props are more where the money’s at right now because it’s less like pieces to the puzzle,” Pratt said. “You don’t gotta worry about a whole team coming together, you just gotta worry about one guy that has a good matchup that day.”
While big losses can be rough for the participants, there is a reason why they keep going back to sports betting.
“There’s a lot of pain whenever you have a loss like [Losing a 19/20 parlay]. But the thing is, you know, that’s how they keep you there,” Smith said. “You know, you see that you’re able to predict 19 out of 20. What makes you think, why can’t I do that every time? And you know, one of these days I’m going to hit 20 to 20. It’s just like how people get addicted to anything else, it gives you a rush. It’s hard to get off of it when you see that first win hit your bank account, there’s not another feeling like it.”
*Names are changed to protect sources.
