Nine apps. Ten days. Hundreds of bets.

I'll walk you through what a gambling spiral looks like firsthand. We'll take a look at the $314 million machine that put these apps in front of me. And the illusion of control that almost turned a ten day experiment into something that much much worse.

Karl Jacobson wasn't so lucky.

His childhood; filled with alcoholism and abuse. As a cop, he spent his life trying to become the kind of person who makes others feel safe. The person you can trust.

And the disease that lived in his childhood home found him anyway. Not through a bottle, but through a screen.

Resources
If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling, the National Problem Gambling Helpline is available 24/7 — call or text 1-800-522-4700. Free and confidential.

Patreon
Support the show and get access to the Premium Feed. Bonus episodes. Early, ad-free, lossless.
https://www.patreon.com/tapesfromthedarkside

Merch store relauch. Everything is on sale for a limited time.
https://merchfromthedarkside.com/

Credits and Sources

Editing help by:
Troy Turner / troypiano at https://www.airgigs.com/user/troypiano

Interview Clips

• Karl Jacobson — "Kica's Corner: Police Chief Karl Jacobson" (Kica Matos, YouTube, ~mid-2022).
• Karl Jacobson — "Karl Jacobson speaks on new role as New Haven Chief of Police / Full Interview" (swearing-in, July 2022).

Legislative / Documentary Footage

• U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Legalized Sports Gambling (December 2024). Senator Dick Durbin.
• Predatory Gambling Documentary — "The Big Con" segment. Les Bernal and others on the financial-exchange model of commercialized gambling.

Betting Advertisements (as cited in the episode)

• FanDuel television ad
• BetMGM television ad ("Make it legendary")
• DraftKings television ad (featuring Kevin Hart)
• Bet365 television ad ("Bet $10, get $365")
• DraftKings television ad ("New customers bet five bucks, get 300")

Research & Studies Referenced

• Ellen Langer (1975), "The Illusion of Control." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 32(2), 311–328. doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.32.2.311
• B.F. Skinner, Schedules of Reinforcement (Ferster & Skinner, 1957).
• American Gaming Association, Responsible Marketing Code — barred members from using "risk free" (and "free bet") language. americangaming.org
• LaBrie, LaPlante, Nelson, Schumann & Shaffer (2007), "Assessing the Playing Field: A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Internet Sports Gambling Behavior." Journal of Gambling Studies 23:347–362.
• Braverman & Shaffer (2012), "How Do Gamblers Start Gambling: Identifying Behavioural Markers for High-Risk Internet Gambling." European Journal of Public Health 22(2):273–278. doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckp232
• Nelson et al. (2019), "Longitudinal Playing Trends Among Daily Fantasy Sports Players." Computers in Human Behavior. sciencedirect.com
• "A Large-Scale Prospective Study of Big Wins and Their Relationship with Future Financial and Time Involvement in Actual Daily Fantasy Sports Contests" (2021). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33734785
• Lesieur & Custer (1984), "Pathological Gambling: Roots, Phases, and Treatment." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 474:146–156. journals.sagepub.com
• Michael Sandel, Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? (Harvard University; lecture series and book).
• r/problemgambling — User GamblingRecoveryCom: "Gambling is a paradox where losing is actually the best-case scenario. Winning early is an infection."

Music

• 20SIX Hundred — "Cimmerian Shade / Last Moments," from the album The Cold Rise From Sleep (2015). Used with permission / licensed. 20sixhundred.bandcamp.com
• AUGUSTA TREVERORUM — "Nightmares" from the album Blacktape. agsttrvrrm.bandcamp.com
• Matooma — "Infinite Emptiness"; CTRL S — "SpaceTimeThought"; Shahead Mostafafar — "Into the Next Dimension"; Jamie Bathgate — "Atmo"; DaniHaDani — "Aurora". Licensed via Artlist. artlist.io
• Just for Kicks — "TV Dinner" (Creative Cut, "Dreamy") and "Why Am I Anxious." Licensed via Artlist. artlist.io