ty m gosnell

Objectivist, PGA Professional, Founder of Players Gf Academy Charleston SC, Dir. Jr. Golf @RiverTowneCC, @Op36Golf Academy

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

Warren Buffett, in his first sit-down since stepping down as Berkshire CEO, gave the cleanest indictment of legalized gambling in a decade. He called it a tax cut for the wealthy. The math proves him exactly right.

Americans wagered $165 billion at legal sportsbooks in 2025. They lost $16 billion of that. FanDuel pulled $6 billion of the losses. DraftKings pulled $5.3 billion. Every state with legal mobile sports betting collected a tax on the bettor side. New York alone took in over $1.2 billion in 2025 sports betting tax revenue.

Layer the lottery on top. State lotteries generate over $90 billion a year. The bottom half of income earners account for roughly 70% of total spend. The average lottery player makes $38,000. A household earning $20,000 spends three times more on tickets than one earning $30,000. The implicit tax rate, meaning whatever the state keeps after prizes, runs 30 to 50% depending on the game. No other revenue source in America has that base and that rate.

The structural design is the engine. A single straight sports bet carries a hold of 4 to 5%. A four-leg parlay carries a hold above 30%. FanDuel and DraftKings spent five years rebuilding their apps to make parlays the default product. FanDuel's blended hold rate hit 11.4% in 2025, up from roughly 7% in 2022. The product got worse for the customer and the customer wagered more anyway.

Now look at the substitution. Nine US states have no state income tax. Seven of those nine run state lotteries. Seven of those nine have legalized sports betting. The states most committed to never taxing wealth are the same states running the largest extraction machines on people who cannot afford to lose. Read it as policy.

Here is what Buffett is actually pointing at. The state needs revenue. It can raise income tax on the top decile, or it can run a lottery plus a sports betting tax. The second option raises the money from the people who can least afford it. The first option becomes politically optional. New York's $1.2 billion in 2025 sports betting tax is $1.2 billion the state did not have to ask of someone earning $5 million.

DraftKings and FanDuel sell a privatized collection mechanism for a regressive tax that the state never has to defend at the ballot box again. Voters approve legalization once. Collection runs forever. The state takes a cut. The wealthy get a quieter top bracket. The bettor's cut shrinks every quarter as the parlay menu gets pushed harder.

The function of a government, Buffett said, is not to play its people for suckers.

Thirty-nine state governments now do.

[Justin Wolfers @JustinWolfers]

You can't fact check a firehose of nonsense. These are literally made up numbers. People have given up even expecting the truth any more. #SOTU

[Justin Wolfers @JustinWolfers]

Imma blow your mind...

While the U.S. has a trade DEFICIT in $, we also have a trade SURPLUS in stuff.

They're the same: We buy more stuff from abroad than we sell, so more money leaves than comes in, but more stuff comes in, than leaves.

So is this a deficit, or a surplus?

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

@esqonfire I do cannot find free market principles in either Jones or what Trump is doing. Not sure why government is getting so involved in private sector decisions.

[Justin Wolfers @JustinWolfers]

"when President Trump announced the idea of tariffs to address the trade deficit... every economist around the country said: That's a very bad idea, that won't work....

If you look at 2025 as a whole, we have basically the same trade deficit...

So I'm going to score this one for the economist, mate."

[Justin Amash @justinamash]

I’m not sure there’s ever been a president more distant from the ideals of the Founders of the United States and the Framers of the Constitution—and more detached from the core American culture of liberty, individualism, and self-determination—than President Trump.

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

@Mike_kim714 Practice routines and course prep. What are you looking for when playing practice rounds, what shots you are working on, how to get the right clubs/wedges in the bag for that specific course

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

@LouStagner Option 2. Each additional green a player hits in regualtion over their average saves them about 1.5 strokes on their scorecard. There is no substitute for greens in regulation

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

@PaigeSpiranac 263

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

@Jon_Heise @GCAJoeA I just played there Wednesday and Sahalee yesterday. Both are absolute gems, but Chambers Bay is a top 5 experience for me.

[Jon Finkel📚💪 @Jon_Finkel]

I just gave my kids an epic "Back in My Day" Summer rant and I got on a roll...

Here are 16 reasons Summer in the '90s crushes Summer in '23 and why our kids are soft:

1) Gatorade Citrus Cooler > every crappy Prime flavor

2) No Gatorade? Thirsty? Any garden hose on the side of a house in the '90s will do. Tasted better, in fact...

My kids: "Gross. It has no filter."

Me: "Filters weren't even invented when we were kids. Drinking mud and hot copper from the hose made us stronger."

3) Kids in '23: "Can you text Joe's mom to see if he's home?"

Really? Now we have to go through 7 texts so you can see your friend? The old way was perfect:

Kids in the '90s: "I'm calling Joe's house to see if he's home."

4) Even better in the '90s...

Kids: "I'm biking to Joe's to see if he's around."

Parents: "Good. Be home at 5."

Biking > driving

Calling > texting

5) Kids in '23: "Can you set up a playdate with Ed?"

Parents, when did the term "play date" take over? It's lame, weak parent-speak. It's our fault.

We should stop using it.

Our kids don't need dates to shoot driveway hoops.

Kids in '93: "Can Ed come over?" (simple)

6) Kids in '93: "Ken Griffey Jr. is the most awesome baseball player ever!"

Kids in '23: "What's baseball?"

7) If your kid likes a PB&J sandwich in 2023 it takes them 10 minutes to say so:

"This PB&J is so gas it's fire my guy no cap."

Describing a tasty PB&J in the 90s: "It's good."

8) Kids in '93: "I'm going to see The Sandlot in the theater with all my buddies Saturday afternoon."

Kids in '23: "We're watching some streaming super hero thing I don't know what app it's on."

9) Kids in '23: "I found this funny online video it has this guy at the zoo and he...."

Kids in the '90s: Chris Farley. Jim Carrey. Adam Sandler. Will Smith.

10) Kids in '23: "Alexa, play that AI song with Drake and KPop?"

Kids in the '90s: "I memorized all the words to Tribe Called Quest's 'Scenario'"

11) Kids in '23: "I'm watching this YouTube channel of this kid with a British accent making fun of high school videos he finds on YouTube."

Whaaaat??

How absurd are these shows?

Kids in the '90s: Saved By the Bell

12) Kids hearing a joke in '23: "i loled"

Kids hearing a joke in the 90s: ***actual laughter***

13) Kids in '23: "I'm on a group hangout with my friends."

Kids in the 90s: "A group of us are going to the park to hang out."

14) Kids in the 90s: "Can me and my friends walk to the pizza shop to get lunch?"

Parents: "Here's $5 to get two slices and a Coke."

Kids in '23: "Can we order Uber Eats for lunch? It's only $47.50?"

15) Kids in the 90s: "It's Friday night! Let's go to Blockbuster and cruise the aisles and grab a New Release and get some Junior Mints and popcorn."

Kids in '23 sitting on the couch: "Disney+ doesn't have anything new."

16) 90s kids: Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.

Kids in 2023: LeBron James' usage rate is....

ughhhhh zip it, dorks.

Jordan was better.

***

If you're on team 90s, share this ASAP and follow me @Jon_Finkel for more like it...

And sign up for my Books & Biceps newsletter in my bio. You get updates on my "Macho Man" Randy Savage biography, book recs, author Q&As and more.

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

Not enough good things can be said about this young man. His two greatest skills are his work ethic and time management. #proudcoach

[Chris Ogle @TheRAD24]

Congratulations to @PeytonOgle2 for being named the Best of Preps Player of the Year by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The first young man from Signal Mountain to be honored with this award.

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

Congrats buddy, you earned it.

[Chris Ogle @TheRAD24]

Congrats to @PeytonOgle2 for being named for the 2nd time to the Best of Preps by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Proud of this kid. Banquet is Tuesday night.....#WingsUp

[Chris Ogle @TheRAD24]

Congrats to @PeytonOgle2 for being named for the 2nd time to the Best of Preps by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Proud of this kid. Banquet is Tuesday night.....#WingsUp

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

@golfcourses101 Sweetens cove
Yeaman’s Hall
Winged Foot West
Royal Melbourne

[Ross MacLeod Putting @rossmacleodputt]

My FREE COMPETITION is still going

Once I pass 2k followers I’ll do a draw for 6 people to get a free 6 months subscription to my putting group

All you need to do is like & retweet this tweet (or original tweet pinned to my profile)

You must also be following me

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

@JonSportsc Dustin Moore and Dustin Moore and Ahmad Bradshaw

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

@ReturnofR Chris Stapleton- Where Rainbows Never Die

[Club Pro Guy @ClubProGuy]

ALERT: I'm giving away a @3jacknational golf bag from @TaylorMadeGolf PLUS an #Xe747 punch out club! To enter, simply retweet this tweet. I will announce the winner on Sunday after my @GambleAware meeting. Good Luck!

[ty m gosnell @TyMGosnell]

@bhughesgolf Thanks Hugo for this thread. I agree sports performers get paid well even if they sit on the bench the entire season.