Understanding Sports Betting & Gambling Disorder From A Bad, Random Movie With Al Pacino & Matthew McConaughey
On paper, the 2005 movie Two for the Money with Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey was bad. The movie got 22% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, a 6.2/10 rating on IMDb, and it lost money.
But for all it’s shortcomings, Two for the Money is an excellent portrayal of the depths of Gambling Disorder.
The premise is Pacino's character (Walter) hires McConaughey (Brandon) to sell NFL betting picks. Brandon starts off being very successful but eventually loses a lot. The story focuses on the relationship between Walter and Brandon. But I think it also tells a great story of Walter's relationship with gambling addiction.
The story focuses on Brandon Lang, an ex-quarterback and elite athlete, and Walter Abrams. Walter owns a sports advisory firm and hires Walter to give betting advice for NFL games in the early 1990s. Early on, Brandon is extremely successful and even goes 12 for 12 on making winning bets on a particularly lucrative NFL weekend.
Brandon seems unstoppable and unable to lose. But Brandon’s luck runs out and he starts losing. The movie shows the massive hole Brandon got his clients in from his pushy sales technicians. It’s kind of like watching Leonardo DiCaprio sell in The Wolf of Wall Street. At one point, Brandon loses the biggest bet of the season, the conference championship. After the loss, Brandon tells Walter he’s finished and going to stop. But Walter isn’t fazed. Walter dives deeper in his blind belief of Brandon’s ability to make consistent winning bets.
When Brandon starts losing consistently, it comes out that Walter, who is recovering from Gambling Disorder, is betting again. The movie portrays several instances of Walter engaging in destructive behaviors fueled by a gambling addiction. The movie is a fascinating exploration of how far Walter will go to gamble.
Here are a few take-a-ways from the movie about gambling addiction:
No One In Recovery Is Ever “Safe” From Addiction
Walter and his wife Toni met in treatment and are recovering from drug and gambling addiction. Throughout the entire movie, Walter is adamant he is not gambling even though he owns a sportsbook company.
But Walter eventually started gambling again. He trusted Brandon’s insights to pick winning bets. With Brandon’s ability to pick winning bets most of the time, Walter thought he was safe from losing. He thought he could beat the odds.
But with any type of gambling, losing is inevitable. And by the time Walter loses, he was betting with more than he could afford. He was sucked back into Gambling Disorder. This is a great depiction of how people struggling with addiction are never truly safe from relapse.
If this sounds like you, here is what you can do about it.
If you are struggling with problematic gambling, notice what you’re giving attention and time to. Are the things you're thinking about leading you to place a bet? Does the group text you're on constantly bring up their picks for the week? Do you notice thinking about what you would do with the extra money from your winnings?
Focus your mind, relationships, and activities on meaningful things and people that have nothing to do with gambling. Explore and understand what's motivating your gambling and address them through positive supports like family, friends, or a professional. Engage in your local 12-Step meeting to gain encouragement, connection, and insights.
Problematic Gamblers Rely On Feelings Rather Than Facts
For a period of time, Brandon was objectively better at picking winning bets than his peers. Brandon looked at intangibles to a game like coaching, how a wide receiver likes to catch a ball, or that a player lost his dog recently which will give him an edge over the competition.
Brandon thought he found a way to consistently win and beat the system. Brandon thought he could not lose.
This fallacy came to an abrupt stop when he lost, a lot. He lost majority of the time for multiple weeks in a row. Even when Brandon started losing, Walter continued to believe they could beat the system. No matter how bad they lost, Walter thought they had a winning formula to profit from sports betting even when reality said otherwise.
This drives home the point that people struggling with a gambling addiction will focus on their feelings or beliefs rather than objective facts to justify continued betting.
If this sounds like you, here are some ways to respond.
Identify your beliefs and feelings with betting. Do you have a lucky shirt you always where on Sundays? Do you believe you’ll eventually end up positive if you place enough bets? Do you have a system that makes you feel confident in your bets?
If you’re gambling is a problem, notice those beliefs then challenge them with positive, objective, facts.
The truth is nothing we wear will have an influence on any game. The more we bet, the more we will lose. Researching a certain team can help us feel like we are in control but nothing is certain in gambling. Will never be 100% correct. Simply noticing your beliefs on gambling can help you be more aware of contributing influences to gambling and make wise choices.
Addiction Pushes Every Boundary
Several scenes portray Walter pushing boundaries. As Walter and Brandon are in the airport traveling to a potential client, Walter fakes a heart attack. Earlier in the movie Walter actually does have a heart attack scare, so Brandon takes it seriously. Brandon is distraught and says, “That’s pushing it too far.” Walter responds with, “There is no such thing as too far.” Walter is so fixated on winning he will do anything to do so.
In another scene, Walter takes Brandon to a Gambler’s Anonymous (GA) meeting and says it’s his 936 meeting. Walter gives a moving speech about how people with Gambling Disorder self-sabotage in order to feel alive. But then a group member recognizes him from his TV show selling betting picks. The group gets upset and Walter and Brandon leave the meeting. But as they are walking out, Walter hands one of the members his business card saying, “You never know when you get a relapse.” Walter completely disregards the GA group boundaries by trying to make a sale.
Those with a severe addiction disregard the boundaries of others.
If this sounds like you, here are some ways to respond.
If you try to push the limits and boundaries at work, at home, or with others, explore why that is. Many of us push limits because we are not content with how things are currently. Sometimes it’s expected or encouraged to take risks and push limits. We also could be seeking something new or different to make us feel alive.
Explore and work to identify your motivation or reason to push limits and work on acceptance and gratitude. Practicing mediation can help with accepting life as it is rather than trying to change it. Think about what you’re grateful for on a daily basis.
Winning A Bet Ends Up Being A Coin Flip. Literally.
The end of the movie is when Brandon has to make the final pick for the Superbowl. He is overwhelmed with the pressure and gets sick. As he’s on the bathroom floor, sweating and vomiting, he finds a coin. He flips it and writes down the result.
Forget the analytics, the intangibles, the feeling of who should win. Brandon’s best option for the biggest game of the year came down to flipping a coin.
And that’s what betting is. Literally a coin flip every time.
This NFL season, or any sports season for that matter, I encourage you to be intentional on how you gamble.
If you’re an adult, playing fantasy sports, betting or using prediction markets can be a fun way to enhance the season. But it can also become unhealthy or problematic.
If you notice problems around your sports betting, take notice. Be curious about what’s motivating you to gamble and explore if it’s adding or taking away from your health and wellbeing.
If you would like to work on navigating your sports betting, reach out to see if counseling with me is a good fit.
