A reporter deliberately gambled recklessly on DraftKings, losing $1,800 in one night through chasing losses with bigger bets, indicative of problem gambling behavior. The next day, DraftKings invited the user to join its VIP program despite their clear signs of addiction. Over a six-week period, the reporter lost approximately $12,500 and participated in over 500 rounds of online blackjack within a weekend, illustrating how promotional tactics can override responsible gaming warnings.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-26,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
I blew $1,800 in one night by chasing my losses with bigger bets, a classic sign of problem gambling.
asserted
I → blow → gambling
The next day, DraftKings invited me to audition for its VIP program.
asserted
DraftKings → invite → program
Sportsbooks want to expand into online casinos, where you can lose a lot fast.
asserted
you → want → lot
I played 500 rounds of blackjack in a weekend — about half of my total bets over 10 weeks.
asserted
I → play → weeks
The responsible gaming prompts telling me to pump the brakes were no match for the product design and promotions pushing me to do more gambling.
asserted
prompts → tell → gambling
These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
asserted
who → write → story
It was late May, the French Open was on and DraftKings was pushing me into the action.
uncertain
DraftKings → push → action
A promotion pinged on my phone.
asserted
promotion → ping → phone
“BET & GET,” it boomed, offering to boost my profits if I threw down on tennis, punctuating the point with a cartoon stack of cash.
asserted
I → bet → cash
I was already in the middle of a two-hour betting spree, ripping 64 wagers on the clay courts of Paris from my office chair in New York City.
asserted
I → rip → City
A $75 bet that Claire Liu would win the fifth point of her first set tiebreak against Maria Sakkari?
asserted
Liu → win → Sakkari
I’ll be the first to admit that my backhand needs some work.
asserted
backhand → admit → work
It was about scratching an itch.
asserted
It → scratch → itch
For the past six weeks, I’d been gambling like a man out of control, testing the guardrails of one of America’s most popular — and controversial — products: online sports betting.
asserted
I → gamble → products
I’d morphed from a prudent, just-for-fun $40 bettor into a “degen” (sports betting slang for a degenerate gambler) who casually yeets $1,500 on a game.
asserted
who → morph → game
I’d feverishly jumped from sport to sport, following playoff basketball bets with live Czech table tennis.
asserted
I → jump → tennis
And I’d gone hog wild at the online casino, doubling down at the blackjack table.
asserted
I → go → table
Most of the time, I’d lost — then chased those losses with more bets.
asserted
I → lose → bets
And as I approached $4,500 in losses in 24 hours, transferring money from my bank directly into my DraftKings account, the company seemed to clock the problem, sending me an in-app notification.
asserted
company → approach → notification
“Take a loss? Now take a beat,” it read.
asserted
it → take → beat
This felt right after the tear I’d been on.
asserted
I → feel → tear
To date I’d blown about $12,500 in total on DraftKings.
asserted
I → blow → DraftKings
That’s the equivalent of six months of mortgage payments in as many weeks.
asserted
That → ’ → weeks
I followed the prompt to the site’s “responsible gaming” center, where I opted to limit myself to just two hours per day on the app and barred myself from depositing more than $100 in a 24-hour period.
asserted
I → follow → period
That pause is an essential part of DraftKings’ seemingly paradoxical business model — to make as much money as possible from the nation’s growing ranks of sports bettors without encouraging gambling addiction.
asserted
pause → make → addiction
The company says these limits are a cornerstone of that strategy.
asserted
limits → say → strategy
Yet 30 minutes later, the company pushed me in the other direction.
asserted
company → push → direction
My phone buzzed with the first of four promotional alerts that day.
asserted
phone → buzz → alerts
Betting opportunities, they said, were waiting.
asserted
they → say → ?
If you’ve bet on sports with FanDuel or DraftKings, you can help ProPublica understand how these apps work.
asserted
apps → bet → FanDuel
Since 2018, when the Supreme Court allowed states to legalize sports betting, Americans have put more than $600 billion into play.
asserted
Americans → allow → play
Add in prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, and more people are betting on sports than ever before.
That explosive growth has come with consequences: About a quarter of active sportsbook account holders surveyed by the Siena Research Institute this year said that they’d lost enough on a bet that they’d have trouble meeting their financial obligations.
asserted
they → add → obligations
As a result, regulators and lawmakers from Colorado to Massachusetts are starting to question whether things have gone too far — and some are now proposing stricter consumer protections.
asserted
some → start → protections
Amid the mounting scrutiny, major operators like DraftKings have pushed back, arguing that their responsible gaming system provides adequate safeguards to protect their customers from spiraling out of control.
asserted
system → mount → control
“I think as a business, as an industry, we’re doing a good job of educating people, of raising awareness, of making tools and resources available, of monitoring accounts,” Lori Kalani, the company’s chief responsible gaming officer, told me.
asserted
Kalani → think → me
If a customer waves too many red flags, she said, the company will proactively close the account.
asserted
company → wave → account
But when I asked how often this actually happens, DraftKings wouldn’t say.
asserted
DraftKings → ask → ?
So I decided to find out for myself: If I bet like a compulsive gambler, would DraftKings stop me — even if it cost the company money?
asserted
it → decide → money
I opened an account under my own name and linked it to my debit card.
asserted
I → open → card
ProPublica bankrolled me.
asserted
ProPublica → bankroll → me
…and 296 more, not listed.
The Aporia
