Wednesday open thread: Would you bet on the NFL if it was legal?

After Monday’s huge decision by the Supreme Court to declare the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act unconstitutional, it appears the door has been opened for legalized sports gambling in the United States.

Individual states now have their own right to decide on whether they want to make sports gambling legal, but there’s essentially a horse-race to legalize it in order to cash in on awaiting gamblers hoping for an easier way to place their bets.

While online gambling sites have made it fairly easy for anyone who really wanted to wager on sports to do so, legalizing it on a local level would open up the opportunity for the casual bettor to join in without jumping through legal hoops. So today’s Question of the Day is:

If sports gambling was legal in your state, would you bet on the NFL?

My answer: Absolutely not. While I may very seldomly place $20 or so on something silly like the Detroit Lions winning the Super Bowl prior to the start of the season, I know better than to make regular bets on sports. You’ve all likely seen my weekly predictions on the Lions and know that no matter how deep I dig statistically, I can easily be made to look like a fool on Sundays.

Sports are a lot more random than people like to admit, and trying to predict something like a final score or a margin of victory is a fool’s errand. I would never place a serious amount of money on the outcome of a sport. Sure, it may be fun once in awhile to add a little stakes in a game, but sports provides enough excitement for me. No need to add the anxiety of potentially losing a significant amount of money.

Your turn.