How People Lose Thousands Chasing One Big Win

Today I'm looking at some of the most brutal gambling stories online. I'm talking about people losing their savings, their homes, their relationships. And here's what's going to surprise you. A lot of them thought that they were being smart with money. I'm Ramit Sethi. I've spent over 20 years studying money behavior. You may have seen me on Netflix. And in this video, I'm going to show you exactly how people go from just one innocent bet to these losses that spiral fast. Stick around, because at the end, I'm going to show you the rule that I use to instantly tell if something is investing or just gambling in disguise. Let's get started.

Here's how I'm using an options trading strategy to bet the weather on prediction markets.

Already you're going to lose money. I could stop the video right there. Once you say options trading, you're fucking broke. It's just a matter of time. I never met someone who's ultra wealthy who does options trading. I'm going to tell you right now, it's typically people who are uneducated and/or don't have a lot of money. That's it. There are no highly sophisticated people that you know doing options trading. Are there companies doing it? Yeah, but you're not a company. I can tell because you don't even know your own income. Talking about, oh, I'm so sophisticated. You don't know how much you spent on burgers in the last 7 days. You're sitting over here talking about options trading. Do I even need to watch the rest of this video? No, I'm getting on the next one.

Scrolling through YouTube, TikTok, even you see people gambling. Gambling is good. Gambling is this. Gambling is that. And you see all these people getting these huge wins and you're like, well, why can't that be me? So I downloaded DraftKings.

DraftKings. Holy shit. You saw me talk about it on my Netflix show.

Whoa.

No good.

My mom trusted me to make an account. I explained to her that I don't have a problem and I'll be fine. I just want to use it for sport. I started depositing into DraftKings, lost $2,500 in one day. It got worse when I downloaded FanDuel. I'm losing my whole paycheck, over $2,000 a check, and I'm just losing the entire thing. Still chasing that high, trying to make everything back as fast as I can. This was a late night. I'm by myself in my bed. You know, what else am I gonna do? So I go into BetMGM and I'm playing a casino game now. And I had my balance up to $11,000. You know, I told myself, "This is the stopping point. Like, you got everything back." But I didn't stop. I don't know what kept driving me to keep playing. I lost it all in the next day. And it was just such a hopeless feeling.

So the entirety of the situation for you played out before you turned 21?

I'm not even 21 yet.

I really appreciate this young man sharing his story. This actually takes a lot of courage because it is deeply shameful to lose money, especially as a young man, when everything you see online effectively tells you this isn't that hard. When I talk to people who have lost money through gambling or other poor financial decisions, the hardest part for them is to truly grapple with what they've done. It's often much easier to just keep going because if you stop and you have to look in the mirror and say like, here are all the decisions I made and there's nobody else that I can assign blame to except myself. Now, let me point out that just 20 years ago, 15 years ago, it would not have been this easy for this guy to gamble. Gambling before he's 21? How would he have done it? He would have had to get in a car, drive somewhere, gamble a bunch of money away. Now picks up his phone, starts clicking around, loses $11,000. So while we should take personal responsibility for our own behavior, we also need to acknowledge that these predatory companies are surrounding you. They are disproportionately targeting young men like you. They're running ads to you. They're buying organic posts on Reddit. They're doing all kinds of things to be present everywhere you go. Y'all need to stop seeing them as your friend, a source of opportunity. They are your enemy. Do not make friends with gambling companies. Fuck them. Look at the comments I made on Twitter. I told the co-founder of Robinhood that I have no respect for him because of what he's built. He knows what he's doing. Robinhood, for example, and all these other gambling sites know that they are trapping young men. And they still keep doing it. You all should be disgusted with them. You should be revolted by them. You should not be making friends with them. If you've ever Googled yourself and seen your name, phone number, home address, or even your family members listed on random websites, that's not an accident. Those are data brokers sneakily collecting and selling your information to anyone who wants it. And when your data is everywhere, you're more exposed to spam, phishing attempts, scams, and identity theft. All of which can wreak havoc on your finances. That is why I personally use Delete.me, today's sponsor. Delete.me is a hands-free subscription service that removes your personal information from hundreds of data broker and people search sites, reducing the risk of your data ending up in the wrong hands. You sign up once and their team continuously scans for and removes your information using their in-house technology so your data stays safe. I actually bought Delete.me for my parents too, because I know that parents tend to be even more vulnerable. I like that DeleteMe has been doing this for over 15 years. This is their specialty, and they were recently named by Wirecutter as the number one data removal service. Now, let me just stop you right there, because if you're saying, Ramit Sethi, this sounds a little expensive, this entire video is about people gambling. Would you rather gamble thousands of dollars or spend a little bit to protect your personal information? This is how I want you to start thinking about where your money's going. When I log into my dashboard, I can literally see which sites had my info and confirmation that they've been removed. And that is peace of mind. So if you want to reduce your digital footprint, lower your risk of scams and identity theft, go to joindelete.me.com/Ramit and use the code Ramit at checkout for 20% off plan for you or your family. You can also click the link in the description below. All right, let's look at the next story.

So my question is how to kind of support and navigate a spouse that has a gambling problem.

Oh gosh, what a nightmare.

I know, not a fun one.

How bad is it?

Probably about a year or two ago I started getting that feeling of like, okay, we make decent money, but like we never have any money. We're always scraping by. I opened my own bank account and I changed my direct deposit to go to my own account.

What did you find out a couple weeks ago?

He told me we were going to overdraw, and so I was like, how did we go through my whole paycheck in a matter of, you know, 2 days. And so, um, I then got into the bank account and did some digging and discovered that he had gone to the casino.

How much have y'all figured up via him that you're in the hole?

Uh, probably around $20 grand.

I bet it's triple that. And, and I cannot tell you how, how hopeful I am that I'm wrong, because y'all can solve that problem pretty quick with some discipline. And then the next thing is he's got to start seeing, um, going to Gamblers Anonymous tomorrow.

And what if he doesn't? Then you have a choice to make, because I already recommended that I thought he needed to get—

we're done with recommendations. Yeah, because he's taking out loans in your name, Elise.

I agree with John's advice, which is it's not about recommendations or beseeching your husband, please. It's about setting an expectation, and if he meets it, then you can continue. But if not, being clear what the consequences of those are. I've had couples on my podcast who had addictions, and it is really difficult. Financial infidelity also is something that many people are not accustomed to talking about. There are not movies about financial infidelity like other types of infidelity. Because many of us do not even understand our own money, if we find out that our partner is gambling money or secretly spending money, We don't even know what the implications are, but we do know it does not feel good. I could not be in a relationship with a gambling addict. Like, if I knew about it up front that they had gambling, even tendencies, to me, I'm like, this is the biggest risk of my life, is the partner that I choose. It's also the biggest opportunity of my life, the partner that I choose. If I saw somebody that gave me signs like that, you think I'm going to be in a lifelong relationship with them? In what universe? Now, I think it's much harder if you are together with them, particularly if you're married, and then you discover that they are a gambling addict. That is really, really hard, and that is where it is so important to set an expectation and then hold them to it. Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you to break up your marriage. That's not my place. But I will say this: if you are single or you are dating and you see clues in your partner that they have gambling tendencies, or simply that they are not responsible with money, think hard about whether you want to be in a lifelong relationship with this person. Marriage is not just romance. It's not just butterflies and, oh, let's go out to dinner tonight. Marriage is kids are crying, who's gonna wake up? Marriage is one of our parents is sick and we need to go and take care of them for 4 months. How's the other one going to manage? Marriage is creating goals together even when it's hard. And it is incredibly difficult to do one of those things if one of you is addicted to gambling.

You probably think gambling is idiotic. Why would you do something that's a losing proposition? That's a very logical approach. But gamblers are optimists. They're like, yeah, but you could get this big win. Let's say you lose $5,000 5 times a year on your Vegas trips. That's $25,000 a year. I know people that spend $75,000, $125,000 a year on golf. I don't golf.

I gamble. The difference is if you gamble, you can lose your fucking house. You can lose your 401. Many of you will not realize this for years and years until you lose your partner. And even still, you will struggle to control this addiction.

I mean, it's dumb. Don't get me wrong. If you played for the rest of your life, you're going to lose money. But if that entertainment, that rush of like, oh man, a double down. Oh, I was betting $100. Now I got to put another $100 out there. That is so excitement, I think, is what keeps people coming back.

This is quite an insightful video, but did you notice there were several different things he brought up? He first pointed out that most people, when they think of gambling, they approach it like people are rational robots. Well, actually, you're technically going to lose money over time. Yeah, but that's not how people operate. Just look at what you're wearing right now. You're not wearing the cheapest shirt you could possibly buy. Well, some of you are. I've seen some of you Silicon Valley freaks, but most of you are wearing something maybe from Old Navy, maybe you got it from Macy's.

Why?

Because it feels good, or you saw somebody else who works in your office wearing the same thing. We are emotional creatures. The other thing he said, which I find a little ridiculous, is, yeah, if you spend $25,000 a year on gambling, well, other people spend $75,000 a year on golfing. Uh, what's with the comparison? First of all, I don't really know anybody who spends $75K a year on golfing. And anyway, Is that really the comparison we need to be making? Notice that when people start to get questioned on gambling, the first thing they will often do is say, well, at least I'm not that bad. It's like watching reality TV. Oh, well, I'm in, uh, $12,000 of credit card debt, but at least I'm not in $100K. That's not an effective way to go through life. He noted that gambling is not just about making money. In fact, he admits you're gonna lose money over the long term. It's about entertainment. Doubling down. I like when people admit this because if you were honest that you are gambling because it's entertainment, then you would carefully compare going gambling to getting DoorDash, watching a movie, going out to a bar. Cool. We all want to have fun. We should use our money for that. But we should not lie to ourselves and say this is actually an investment. That's not what gambling is for. If it's for entertainment, then create a number out of your guilt-free spending and set a limit for how much you're going to gamble, because you cannot confuse entertainment and gambling. This is what happens when you don't have a system. You often start making emotional decisions with money without running the numbers. You're chasing losses, trying to get back to even. You're convincing yourself the next big thing is going to fix it. Inside Money Coaching, we build a system where your money is handled automatically. No gimmicks, no gambling. Your investing is set. Your spending is intentional. Your decisions are already made. And when your system is solid, you don't need to gamble to feel like you're getting ahead. You can literally see the exact month and year that you'll have $1.5 million and the exact month you'll be able to take that trip to Italy. If you want to feel in control of your money, Join my money coaching program today. You can scan the QR code on screen or click the link in the description below.

Bet on the weirdest thing you could find on the internet, but show the results. Day 184 of risking $100 every single day for the rest of my life.

This is a pretty compelling idea, like risking $100 a day for the rest of my life. I mean, that's a hook I would click. How come y'all don't spend $100 improving yourselves? Like $100 going to college, $100 buying books, $100 learning how to speak Spanish. No, it's always gambling. What the fuck kind of world is this? What is that? This is cool. I want to watch the rest of this video, but it's easier to put $100 for something that could pay off pie in the sky than to be like, you're telling me I need to learn how to conjugate a verb? That sounds boring. All right, what's this bro doing?

This month we're up, this year we're up, and today We are going to the site that lets me bet on anything. Cowshi. Let's see what the weirdest thing is I can find. What will Powell say during a September press conference? Uncertainty 5 times. We're going to go no.

This is literally like watching a bunch of broke people talk about how they're going to become wealthy. Like, this is not how wealthy people talk. I can tell you right now, nobody who is wealthy would talk like this or do this.

We're going to go no, that this man is not going to say uncertainty 5 times. Who needs to say something more than 5 times outside of my toddler? Submit $100 wins us 113.

Hold on. What the fuck? I got to go back. Did I just see what I thought I saw on screen? Dollars earn 4% interest. You guys are so fucked. You have no idea because you're going on Kalschi and you're gambling money based on what Powell is going to say. You have no idea what you're even doing. And then on top of that, you have this sophisticated financial company whose only job is to squeeze the little money you have out of you until you're left like an old paper towel that's been used 7 times and you're drying on a clothesline, left fraying in the wind. And the way they do that is these little techniques they use. Earn 4% interest. So emotionally you're going, yeah, I'm going to make it big. I'm going to crush it with this Powell bet margin. But rationally, your mind is going, whoa, 4% is actually quite reasonable. That's the equivalent of a high-yield savings account. This is actually a good bet because otherwise it would be sitting in my checking account. You have no idea what you are up against. I'm talking to you young men, 21 to 30. They are fucking with your lives doing things like these features, and you think you're winning, but you are merely the receptacle that they are squeezing. So they can make more money.

I've never watched something like this and cared. They need like NBA music when he comes out.

Did you see like, look at this. That's not how serious investors act. I'm going to tell you right now. You ever see a chef when they're cooking food for like 300 people in their restaurant? They're like, how's the cornbread going to turn out? No, that's fucking amateur hour. They're just like, okay, I've done this 1,000 times. I'm going to do it again. Do you know how I look when I invest? Look at my face. Nothing changed. I'm barely breathing because I don't even do it myself. I certainly don't log on to some scam website and type a bunch of numbers and shit like that. Money just goes automatically every single month, the same way it's been going for almost 30 years. You want to be wealthy? Learn what wealthy people actually do. And they do not do this.

Oh, all right.

We're 5 minutes through. He hasn't said it yet. I just got the update that we're—

What is this poster? What am I seeing here? This poster of that Uncut Gems. Is that the video I'm seeing here? Does anybody notice what the fuck is going on? What happens in Uncut Gems? Adam Sandler, hustler and scammer extraordinaire. Is there any message that we are possibly taking?

Just look.

Who are the heroes in your background? My hero, my beautiful wife, my hero. Well, that's me because I wrote all those books, but we can love ourselves too. Self-love is important. Very sophisticated authors who have taught me a lot. Who's the hero in this video? A scammer jeweler who gets in the head.

Hmm.

Sometimes our backgrounds actually reveal so much.

77% chance to win.

Economy remain uncertain. No, these individual forecasts are subject to uncertainty.

Oh, is the dispersion in the outlook, uh, a sign of uncertainty?

Stop trying to make him say it. We're down to 25%. We were at 96%. Please wrap this up.

This one is certain and this one isn't happening. Oh my God.

It's the last question. Oh, if he doesn't say it, we win. If he doesn't say we win. That's it.

Thanks very much.

No more questions. Let's go.

So many of you watching this going, Ramit Sethi, you were wrong. All those comments and you were wrong. He won. Let me correct you, because getting lucky one day or two days does not change the process. This is like you going to the gym one day and one day you just magically bench 225. You're like, "God fucking awesome." No, what matters is that you go 3 or 4 times a week, that you consistently use progressive overload, those kinds of things. Showing up every day and working on your process, that matters more than getting lucky once or twice. You may win 1 day, 2 days, 5 days, even 5 months. But we are talking about process for a lifetime. And that is not what I see here. It's quite amazing. He's gambling $100 a day. Can we do a little bit of math? That's $3,000 a month. This guy appears to be, let's just say, 30 years old. And let's say that he's starting at zero. He's putting in $36,000 a year into low-cost investments. He's got 35 years for it to grow, and we're already going to factor inflation in. Holy shit, $5.3 million. Do you see how absurd this is? I don't mind entertainment, but almost none of you would actually spend $100 a day on entertainment. You wouldn't, not for the rest of your life. And if you were to invest that, You would have millions. Yes, this already factors inflation in. So don't tell me it's going to be worth less in time. I already factored that in. $5 million. By the way, you want to know how much he'll have in his bank account if we don't even factor inflation in? $10.7 million. It's almost a joke, but it's not a joke. I take it seriously because there's an epidemic of young men corrupting their own futures. They're so nihilistic. They don't believe that they can ever get ahead, that they have simply decided to have fun. And they get a lot of approval from other people. Look at this video. If I look at it, he's got 116,000 likes. Guys, likes don't pay the bills. He's got 670 comments, 12,000 likes on one of these comments. This is addictive. You know, a lot of young men make fun of women for going in a restaurant and taking selfies and being outside and getting their angles right. How is this any different? And in fact, you're not just taking pictures of yourself, you're posting stuff that's costing you literally millions of dollars, all so that you can get the addictive adulation of people you have never met, nor would you ever want to meet. There's something very subtle about this video that you should know. He's telling us this because he won. But gamblers are notorious for not telling you when they lose. People literally erase these things from their mind. They're not even aware of their own losses. Because it's a way for their brain to cover it up. Yet they talk publicly and proudly about when they win. Have you seen these crypto guys on Twitter? It's well known that they post when they win, but they delete things when they lose. This is classic. Y'all are being played every which way from the videos you watch, the people you consume, even the apps that you are using to make these transactions. Everyone is getting a piece of you. And you are the mark, but you don't know it. You know who I feel sorry for beyond gambling addicts? Their girlfriends and wives. Because a lot of times you have these gambling addicts who disguise their addiction as, I'm so smart, I'm a crypto trader. They're in a Discord, they have Robinhood open, there's all kinds of graphics going across their screen. Their wife goes, hey babe, what are you doing? Well, the liquidity issue didn't work because the candle was over here and it was breached over here. Okay, as long as you know what you're doing. And they just kind of like dutifully walk out of the room. I'm like, your husband is a fucking gambling addict. But he disguised it as making it sound like he's so smart. He's not. Their female partners will find out 2 years, 3 years, 5 years later, be like, what? How could I have known? How could you have known? If they have a Robinhood account, you all need to walk. If you want to understand how to actually build wealth, and avoid mistakes like this, hit subscribe. Let's keep going. You know, people often blur the line between investing and gambling. So let me just make it really simple. Investing is boring, repeatable, and it's based on long-term growth. Gambling is exciting, unpredictable, and relies on short-term wins. If you feel a rush when you make a decision, if you feel an urge to check it constantly or a need to win it back, you are not investing, you're gambling. Here, let me show you on my face. This is a real simple litmus test. Here's me gambling. Now here's me investing. Or even this. My money is in low-cost index funds and they just grow. It's boring. So here's what I recommend instead of gambling. Automate your investments every single month. You don't even need to do it manually. It happens automatically. Use simple, low-cost index funds or equivalents and stop checking your accounts every day. If you want to learn how to build real wealth without taking these kinds of risks, watch this video next. I break down the exact system I use to grow money consistently over time.