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When I was about 12 years old, my friends and I were introduced to gambling. It wasn’t viewed as something good or bad, it was just fun. We would play poker, mostly five-card draw and seven-card stud. My older brother Johnny taught us how to play. My parents would only allow us to use chips but I believed Johnny liked to play for money.

As I got older, several family members and friends would get together and we would play penny-ante poker on a Friday or Saturday night. It was a fun time and nobody ever won or lost much money. Most of those people have passed into history. Once I entered the United States Air Force, I never played poker again.

We also had two racetracks for horses near us, Brandywine Raceway and Delaware Park. Brandywine was only two miles from my house. It closed in 1989 due to casinos becoming a more preferred choice of gamblers.

My brothers and I periodically went to Brandywine Raceway and bet on the horses. Brandywine had harness racing. In harness racing, a horse pulls a sulky cart with the driver riding on the cart. Horses in this type of racing could break stride or damage to the cart could occur. In other words, the horse I bet on could be leading by a bunch and end up last. We never bet that much money. Two dollars was the minimum bet.

I got out of the Air Force in 1967.  My brothers, some friends and I would go to the racetrack. They had become bigger gamblers but I still bet two dollars. It was a good thing because I normally lost.

Other choices in gambling back then were numbers and betting pools at work. Every year there was a Super Bowl pool. The numbers racket was run by the local mob. They returned a larger percentage to the betters than the states return to the people who bet in the lottery. Sometimes, I wonder who the crooks are. Hopefully all the funds go to the schools in North Carolina.

With the states getting involved in gambling, gambling became more widely available. It’s big business for the State of North Carolina. The North Carolina Lottery started in 2006. North Carolina was the last state on the east coast to not have a lottery. It has done well.

Sports betting is the latest thing now. Legal sports betting became possible in 2018 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Amateur Sports Protection Act. 38 states, including North Carolina, have legalized sports betting.

North Carolina sports betting is available with eight online and three tribal locations. Sports betting is regulated by the North Carolina Lottery Commission. Anyone 21 years or older who has a valid United States Social Security Number and lives in North Carolina is eligible to bet. It’s probably easier to bet than vote in North Carolina.

I have never been involved with the lottery or sports betting. I can understand why people want to do it. The lottery is fine. I believe sports betting in college and professional sports is a step too far. There is going to be corruption. Legalized sports betting in college sports particularly makes me uncomfortable.

Al Klemm is a Washington resident and a former Beaufort County Commissioner.