Michael Lewis‘ Against The Rules is one of my favourite podcasts. It jumps around each season, but I’m considering re-listening to season 4:

In Season 4, Against the Rules is going to Vegas (by way of New Jersey!). Host Michael Lewis bets high and low to find out how Americans, and their state governments, got addicted to a new form of legalized gambling. This season, we’ll meet bookies, lobbyists, lawyers and professional sharps. All in their own ways trying to figure out why fans might hitch their life savings to their favorite team’s performance.

The reason I’m considering re-listening to it is because now, with a few years of legalized sports gambling under our belts here in Ontario, we’re starting to see the negative effects.

• From the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Mar 2026: “The introduction of online gambling and subsequent privatization with single-event sports betting were each associated with substantial increases in gambling-related helpline contacts, specifically in adolescent boys and young men, suggesting increased gambling problems, care-seeking, or both. This underscores the need to strengthen preventive measures and treatment access.”
• From the CBC, Sep 2026: “[A] rising number of men and boys who are turning to hospital emergency departments after reaching rock bottom with gambling and related addictions and disorders, according to a new study published Wednesday in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Researchers in Ontario found a dramatic increase in emergency department visits in just the past few years, following the rapid growth of online gambling in that province and the legalization of betting on single sports events. “
• From the CBC, Oct 2026: “The number of problem gamblers in Ontario has spiked and gambling-related suicides have tripled since the expansion of private online casino games and sports betting in 2022, CBC News has learned. Nearly 130,000 Ontarians now show signs of gambling problems, compared with roughly 43,000 in 2018, a tripling of the number of people who meet the criteria of gambling too frequently, losing money and struggling with addiction.” (Note: though this tripling leads the headline, I feel it’s worth noting that this finding is from is a small sample size: “Before Ontario’s expansion, the province had an average of five gambling-related suicides each year from 2016 to 2021. That number tripled after 2022.”)

This was all predictable, by the way. The Ontario government was warned by experts of the negative effects, and Lewis talked about them in his podcast two years ago — but Ontario has gotten addicted to the revenue, so it’ll make bad decisions to feed that addiction. Just like clockwork.

A few days ago the CBC, in their continuing investigation into the effects of legalized sports betting, reported that federal MPs have introduced a bill which would reduce the number of ads for sports betting services. As someone who never does any sports betting, but does watch sports on TV, I say hallelujah. They’re nonstop. It would be both a social good and a relief. Make the TSN SportsCentre anchors stop fake-betting every morning too.