I think about the alternate universe where I won and started betting more a lot; sort of a "there but for the grace of god go I" situation.
If my beloved team wins, I’m ecstatic and don’t really care I lost $50. If they lose, well, at least I have $50.
Drafting players and then fielding a team every week for a season can be fun if you like the sport.
The problem for me is that I had no idea with regards to anything about football, so my picks weren't radically different than a random number generator, and unsurprisingly I lost. I had absolutely no fun in the process and I would have rather spent that $50 on a video game or something.
You don’t have to know much about football, and it gives some common ground for small talk.
My brother jokes and says I am in the top 1% of sports bettors now
I am very very careful around activities and substances which could become addictive, because I know from benign life experiences that I sometimes lack the self control to stop.
It would probably be fine but there are no upsides risking it.
That and ever since my undergrad statistics class I hate the thought of playing games which are staked against me from the beginning. The thought of betting or gambling feels like voluntarily signing up to be swindeled.
Well aside the organised criminal element that goes hand-in-hand with legal gambling, it destroys people's ability to make rational choices.
But yes, I'm also lucky enough to have never won.
Even then it's hard to ignore that both these things destroy people with precious little informed consent. If you're the sort of person who gets hooked, you're stuffed.