The house always wins.
Some wild news dropped late Monday from the NFL; the league released a memo in which they announced a minimum yearlong suspension for Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley for betting on games last season.
Ridley had been on leave from the team while the alleged betting took place, so there’s not a whole lot in terms of him receiving inside information or having any distinct advantage. Even still, this is a huge no no for an active player to bet on a game in any league. We all know how Pete Rose has been blackballed from the baseball Hall of Fame for his wagering history. Ridley, of course, is not exactly at the level Rose was, but still a major infraction.
If anyone payed an ounce of attention to Ridley’s Twitter account, we could have seen this coming. The guy tweets like all of us regular schmucks who love gambling but have no idea what we’re doing.
Everyday gamblers can feel the highs and lows of Ridley’s betslip with each tweet:
We’ve all felt this. When you’re in such a bad slump, all you can do is laugh. Show me a bettor who’s gone 0 for his last 6 and I’ll show you the human embodiment of the laughing crying emoji, usually paired with an “I mean, all you can do is laugh at this point” as a cherry on top.
If you’ve gambled for any amount of time or been around those that have, you know that everyone has their own rules. I, for example, “never” bet on my favorite teams. Additionally, if you’ve gambled for any amount of time or been around those that have, you know these rules are always broken. We all say we learn from our Ls, Calvin; but how am I supposed stay away when Iowa’s getting 5.5 at home against Michigan State?!
Gambling responsibly is key. If you choose to dabble, please do so within your means. When you’re not seeing the board as well as you’d like, walk away. You’ll feel better and your account will remain fuller. But you’ve got to have the confidence to know you’re going to be a better gambler when you decide to jump back into the pool.
According to his Twitter account, Ridley claims he only bet $1,500. Plenty of money for a lot of us, but when your career earnings are a shade over $11 million, maybe not the biggest concern. Adam Schefter reported that Ridley “placed multi-legged parlay bets involving 3, 5 and 8 games that included the Falcons to win.”
If that’s indeed the case and he walked away after doing so, vaya con dios…and never bet on the Falcons again.
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