Interesting, from the FT: (subscription required)
Frustrated sports punters turn to US stock market
Three of the top online brokerages see almost 800,000 sign-ups in March and April
Key quotes:
"Gamblers who cannot bet on professional sport because fixtures have been scrapped are flocking instead to the US stock market, creating a new class of customer for online brokerages and adding fuel to the market rally.
Daniel Goodwin, who oversees a team of paralegals for a law firm in Indiana, would typically bet $100 on a handful of sports games every night. A few weeks into the shutdowns, with matches on hold, he fired up a dormant ETrade account with several thousand dollars and began to buy stocks. “I’m not here for the long run — I just want to throw a thousand bucks at something to see if I can make a few hundred,” said Mr Goodwin, 39, noting that so far he has done well on MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, the casino groups. “With sports, if I throw $1,000 at something, I lose the whole thing real quick, but here if things go south you can cut your losses.”
Personally, I am offended they did not include frustrated craps players to this list. Then again, sports betting and craps is much more fun than this...