He was banned by betting sites, and filed for bankruptcy.
asserted
He → ban → bankruptcy
Then he relapsed on Kalshi
asserted
he → relapse → Kalshi
During the pandemic, Thomas thought he would give DraftKings and FanDuel a try.
asserted
he → think → try
Before long, he formed a habit.
asserted
he → form → habit
"I could have ten drinks one night and then be fine with not drinking again for a year," said Thomas, 35, who asked to be identified by his middle name fearing his problem gambling history could affect his career.
uncertain
history → have → career
It really got me.
asserted
It → get → me
He never cared much for sports.
asserted
He → care → sports
Yet betting on games seemed like an easy way to make a buck.
asserted
betting → seem → buck
He started placing wagers on football and tennis mostly using parlays, which are difficult-to-win bets that require multiple things happening in one game in order to land an enticing payout.
asserted
things → place → payout
Working from his home in Pennsylvania in the financial services industry, Thomas says there were few moments when he didn't have one eye on placing a bet as he juggled work emails and meetings.
asserted
he → work → emails
When his paycheck arrived, he'd quickly squander it all trying to dig himself out of a gambling hole, only to find himself even deeper in.
asserted
himself → arrive → hole
This cycle continued for years, with Thomas racking up around $75,000 in debt from credit cards and personal loans.
asserted
Thomas → continue → cards
He ended up more than $50,000 in the red from online sportsbooks.
asserted
He → end → sportsbooks
He filed for bankruptcy in late 2023, federal court records show, and he was able to settle with most of his creditors.
asserted
he → file → creditors
He banned himself from DraftKings and FanDuel, known as "self exclusion" in industry parlance.
asserted
He → ban → parlance
He was debt-free and swore off gambling.
asserted
He → swear → gambling
"Then one day, about two years later, I'm scrolling on Instagram and I came across an ad for Kalshi," said Thomas.
asserted
Thomas → scroll → Kalshi
"I was bored and thought this could be fun, and it ended up turning into something that wasn't fun at all."
uncertain
that → think → something
Thomas saw an ad offering a $20 cash bonus for the first $10 spent on the prediction market app.
asserted
Thomas → see → app
He said that's all it took to get hooked.
asserted
it → say → ?
"Betting $10 became a couple hundred, and that became a couple hundred more, then thousands more," Thomas said.
asserted
Thomas → bet → 10
Dani Lever, a Kalshi spokeswoman, called Thomas "a cherry-picked case."
asserted
Lever → call → Thomas
She went on: "If you ask our millions of traders, they would emphatically tell you that an exchange model is significantly healthier than a sportsbook model: our profits aren't tied to trader losses, so we don't have the same predatory incentives.
asserted
we → go → incentives
But mental health counselors and experts who study gambling problems say Thomas' story has become increasingly familiar.
asserted
story → study → problems
Kalshi and its main competitor, Polymarket, have launched aggressive nationwide advertising campaigns, including in states where online sports gambling is illegal.
asserted
gambling → launch → states
And since the sites have not sought approval by states, they do not follow state-mandated protections for people with gambling addictions who are most vulnerable to relapsing.
asserted
who → seek → addictions
"I hear from clients all the time who say, 'and now you can bet on anything,'" said Abdullah Mahmood, a problem gambling counselor at Maryhaven, a treatment center in Columbus, Ohio.
asserted
Mahmood → hear → Columbus
"Some have also self-excluded from sportsbooks and then fell into prediction markets."
'I have a gambling addiction'
Thomas is now living with his mother, who works as a grocery store cashier, and his grandmother, in his childhood home, a modest three-bedroom house in a working-class Pennsylvania community that has been economically struggling for decades.
asserted
that → exclude → decades
Recently, he had to ask both of them for a loan to cover food for the week and a car insurance payment.
asserted
he → have → week
"It's hard to ask to borrow money because I spent everything I have on Kalshi," he said.
asserted
he → ask → Kalshi
"My family kept telling me to stop, but I just couldn't."
His family floating him filled him with so much shame that he wanted to be done with Kalshi.
asserted
he → keep → Kalshi
"I asked a live agent to close my account.
asserted
I → ask → account
I have a gambling addiction and have been self-excluded from regulated gambling platforms for years," Thomas wrote the company in a chat feature of the app, according to a log of the conversation shared with NPR.
uncertain
Thomas → have → NPR
An automated response from Kalshi noted that "self-exclusion is a responsible trading safeguard designed to be irreversible."
asserted
exclusion → note → Kalshi
It offered other solutions: "Three different responsible risk-management actions can be taken: trading break, voluntary opt-out, and a personalized funding cap.
asserted
actions → offer → solutions
Thomas insisted he wanted to be banned from the app.
asserted
he → insist → app
Two days later, he also made three separate requests to Kalshi over email for his account to be permanently closed, correspondence he shared with NPR show.
asserted
he → make → NPR
Kalshi did eventually bar Thomas from betting.
asserted
Kalshi → bar → Thomas
But now he is again trying to find his financial footing after frittering away all his savings.
asserted
he → try → savings
Clinicians who see patients who struggle with gambling say Thomas is a stand-in for a phenomenon that's become the dark side of the rise of prediction markets: the sites can be a magnet for people who are problem gamblers.
asserted
who → see → people
…and 50 more, not listed.
The Aporia
