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Comment by kortilla | Hacker News Reader

It works just fine. It’s not a casino in the regular sense because you’re betting against other people, not the house.

I'm not sure about Kalshi, however on most sports betting sites you actually are betting against the house. The betting sites all have in-house models (or piggyback off other sites) that are much better at predicting odds than the general public. If someone is making money then the sites just place limits on that account so they're not losing money.

It's not too complicated

The average player loses money. Hence the opposite side will make money

Exceptions are dealt accordingly

It comes down to some form of the old adage "the average person thinks they're smarter than the average person". They're not.

In a casino you can bet against other people too. Nonetheless, the house always wins and takes its cut.

With gambling you should always play for entertainment. If you play to win you've already lost.

Making paper airplanes from dollar bills, and setting their backs on fire to give them jet engines, is likely cheaper and more entertaining, so if you're gambling anyway, you've already lost, period.

and perhaps somewhat safer

Cheaper, yes. More entertaining, not for a lot of people. Many play the same way you'd play a video game, with the actual stakes giving it a bigger rush. Enough that some become addicted.

If it weren't fun it wouldn't be nearly as big a problem.

But if you don't win, where's the fun in that? Do you consider other ways to part with your money also as entertainment? Is donating entertaining?

There's an old phrase that says something like "Look around the table, if you cant see the mark you're it." - if you think you are not betting against the house on a gambling site, you're VERY it.

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