Donnie Douglas
Columnist
Hello. My name is Donnie Douglas, and I am an addict.
No, it’s not what you are thinking. My addiction is gambling, and I satisfy the urge to try to get rich quick by playing DraftKings, a fantasy sports betting service that is provided online and dangles the possibility of winning as much as a million dollars with wagers as modest as a couple of dollars. It is truly gambling made too easy.
A bet can be made for as little as 25 cents, or as much as a few hundred dollars. I would guess my average wager is 2 bucks — but sometimes I go crazy and will bet as much as $3.
I am not alone in my addiction. There are DraftKings addicts all around, probably in your circle of friends and possibly within your own family. If you see someone frantically working their iPhone as the kickoff or tip-off nears, it’s a good bet that they are fashioning a lineup while trying to stay under the $50,000 salary cap.
DraftKings provides a variety of contests in most major sporting events, and my preferences are the PGA Tour, Major League Baseball and the NFL, where you can chase that $1 million prize. I seldom enter the NBA contests because I no longer know the players. I don’t even know where Justice for All played collegiately.
Before you judge me — heck, you probably already have — understand that I tried getting rich the old-fashioned way, with uninterrupted and hard work from about 1973 to 2020 and the magic of compound interest.
I fell short by a bunch, so it was time for a new approach.
Enter DraftKings, which is relatively new me, but making a wager isn’t.
I used to feed the addiction with infrequent trips to Las Vegas, but that was back when I was working and making a whole lot more money than I do with my part-time gig in retirement.
For me, gambling is a form of entertainment that includes the possibility of a payday. If you go to a show or a concert, you likewise are entertained, but there is no chance of coming home rich.
Some folks prefer the lottery, which I don’t play, finding it a cynical shell game by the state to finance education, but what is in reality a redistribution of wealth. The lottery preys hard on the poor who believe their best chance for riches is picking the right numbers, not getting educated or a skill and working hard. Besides, the lottery is all luck, as are those one-armed bandits that are so popular around this county.
There is a degree of skill involved with DraftKings in the selection of a lineup while staying under the salary cap, although I mostly just spitball.
My biggest payday has been $100, but on Sept. 24 I flirted with the $30,000 top prize. With about six minutes remaining in the game between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals I was in second place in a field of about 13,000 entrants, just a couple of points out of first place and that $30,000 prize. Because my lineup was long on Browns players, what I needed was a three and out by the Bengals.
What I got was two late Bengal touchdowns and a payday of $6 — not much, but double my investment. Easy come, easy go.
Disclaimer: This column is for entertainment purposes, and in no way is an endorsement of gambling. If you think you are a problem gambler, contact Gamblers Anonymous in North Carolina by calling 919-460-9039.
Donnie Douglas is the former editor of The Robesonian in Lumberton.