{"product_id":"the-house-always-wins-9798895652886","title":"The House Always Wins: The Business, Politics, and Human Cost of Sports Betting","description":"An investigative narrative revealing how smartphones, deregulation, and pandemic isolation turned America’s pastime into its newest addiction.   The House Always Wins traces the rise of legal sports betting from a fringe hobby to a $120-billion-a-year industry, reshaping how Americans watch, wager, and lose. Economist and health policy analyst Roger Bate explores how pandemic isolation, relentless digital marketing, and permissive state policy created a perfect storm of opportunity and risk. Bate draws on original surveys, field interviews, and international case studies to reveal how betting moved from racetracks to smartphones—and how a culture built on self-control began to mistake speed for freedom.    From suburban bars to billion-dollar platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel, The House Always Wins uncovers the moral and economic contradictions of a market built on human weakness and where over 95 percent of participants lose, some catastrophically. Bate argues that the challenge isn’t whether people should gamble, but whether a democracy can manage risk at the speed of an app. Combining investigative reportage with humane insight, this book exposes the hidden arithmetic behind America’s newest public-health crisis.\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication date:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10 September 2026\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePage count:\u003c\/strong\u003e 312\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e Height 137 mm; Width 211 mm; Thickness 23 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Post Hill Press\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Paperback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9798895652886\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Roger Bate","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50249444950266,"sku":"9798895652886","price":11.32,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/files\/9798895652886.jpg?v=1788822990","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/the-house-always-wins-9798895652886","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}