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this week’s starting 5 @ betonu:

🗣️ Dillon debrief: how high is too high? 🌿
🎤 sharp business talk: did bonus hunters ruin big deposit bonuses? 🏹
🧠 insightful insights: the sports betting & fantasy business ecosystem 🧩
💼 dope jobs: Amazon, Diageo, Bet 365, and more 📦
🐰 rabbit holes: Lebron talks therapy, cementing his GOAT status 🐐

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🗣️ Dillon debrief

^{(where i pretend to be an opinion columnist)}

how high is too high? (we talkin hold percentages)

with so much talk from sportsbook operators about increasing hold percentages, i can’t help but think, how high is too high?

even though i am a math genius (up to 4th grade level), i’m going to do zero math in this piece. the suits are already doing the math which tells them more hold = more revenue.

and wall street must love what the TI-83s are spitting out because both FanDuel and DraftKings have spoken in nearly every recent earnings call about increasing hold %.

but to me this is a psychological discussion. most bettors aren’t crunching numbers, they’re feeling feelings. they’re feeling hope, anticipation, the boosted ego of victory, the gut punch of defeat.

as hold increases, the good feelings decrease. at some point the hold becomes so high that some customers will be tough to retain because the game “feels” impossible to win.

i’m not sure what that max number is but i’d be careful. with tax rates increasing, even more pressure will be on OSB operators to raise margin. books should be thoughtful about the psychology of gambling and not rely only on the 4th grade math.

🎤 sharp business talk

^{(money moves and conversations with industry professionals)}

did bonus hunters ruin big deposit bonuses?

this came up in a conversation i had today and i realized that it may never have been discussed publicly.

from 2018-2021 it felt like sportsbook operators, and vip reps specifically (hand up) were shelling out massive deposit bonuses. we’re talking 100% up to 20k. 20% on a 1m deposit. insane numbers.

somewhere along the line it felt like the word got out. tons of people came in, got connected to a VIP host, deposited 5 figures, used the bonus, rolled over once, and immediately withdrew everything. smart by them, obviously!

books have since tightened up for the most part but these bonus wars still go on. it’s a fascinating underbelly of the industry that i’ve been very privy to on the VIP side.

🧠 insightful insights

^{(where business insights and sports gambling collide)}

the entire sports betting & fantasy business ecosystem

most people, including me, get so caught up with the operators that we forget about the full range of businesses that make up the sports betting & fantasy ecosystem.

i had AllenIverson™ kind of put this one together for me so it’s not perfect, but i think it’ll be helpful to all.