Engadget: Coin flips don’t appear to have 50/50 odds after all

Engadget: Coin flips don’t appear to have 50/50 odds after all. “Conventional wisdom about coin flips may have been turned on its head. A global team of researchers investigating the statistical and physical nuances of coin tosses worldwide concluded (via Phys.org) that a coin is 50.8% likely to land on the same side it started on, altering one of society’s most traditional assumptions about random decision-making that dates back at least to the Roman Empire.”

Associated Press: Twitch expands its ban on gambling livestreams. It also says viewership of the content is down 75%

Associated Press: Twitch expands its ban on gambling livestreams. It also says viewership of the content is down 75%. “Amazon-owned Twitch said Wednesday it’s expanding the ban on livestreams of gambling content on the platform. The company said it will now prohibit streams of online casinos Blaze and Gamdom, adding to the four sites it banned last October when its new gambling policy went into effect.”

Tubefilter: Kick surges to 12 million signups and cuts “unnecessary exposure” to controversial categories

Tubefilter: Kick surges to 12 million signups and cuts “unnecessary exposure” to controversial categories. “The platform–which has been working overtime to pitch itself as a viable alternative to Twitch–was co-founded by Stake.com co-founder Ed Craven, and since the beginning has made it clear that, unlike Twitch, it’s a haven for gambling streams. But it seems to have realized rampantly promoting gambling might not be the best move.”

Mother Jones: Meet the Internet Gamblers Who Won Big Betting on the Submarine’s Fate

Mother Jones: Meet the Internet Gamblers Who Won Big Betting on the Submarine’s Fate. “Before debris was discovered on Thursday, Titan, the submersible that took tourists to view the wreckage of the Titanic, the looming tragedy was fodder for widely-enjoyed, if often macabre, internet content. Some Twitter users ripped jokes about the rich getting their just desserts. Others intently scanned social media for updates. And bettors saw an opportunity.”

Indian Express: Govt proposes to ban online betting ads on social media platforms

Indian Express: Govt proposes to ban online betting ads on social media platforms. “The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has proposed to ban advertisements of online betting sites on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, as per draft rules for online gaming released Monday. The Indian Express was the first to report, in October, on how these social media platforms were rife with such advertisements and that the government could soon intervene to curb them.”

PsyPost: Cryptocurrency users with gambling affinity are more involved mentally and financially than non-gambling users

PsyPost: Cryptocurrency users with gambling affinity are more involved mentally and financially than non-gambling users. “Cryptocurrency users who also gamble tend to be more mentally involved compared to their non-gambling counterparts, according to new research published in Computers in Human Behavior. The new study provides insight into some of the psychological patterns that characterize heavy cryptocurrency users.”

ESPN: The rise of Gambling Twitter: Social media and the popularity of sports betting

ESPN: The rise of Gambling Twitter: Social media and the popularity of sports betting. “For years, bettors and bookmakers have relentlessly lobbed pot shots at each other, while anxiously awaiting the next tweet from a small-college beat writer or for a WNBA player to post a telling emoji. Meanwhile, con artists, promising inside information and guaranteed locks, lurk behind random anonymous accounts, ready to take advantage of the gullible, and trolls stand poised to attack anyone who doesn’t meet their standards. People absolutely love it. And, now, with widespread legal betting spreading rapidly, Gambling Twitter is on the rise.”