On Nov. 18, 1865, the New York Saturday Press published a short story written by an obscure former miner and steamboat pilot writing under the name Mark Twain.
For Twain, who was only a few days shy of his 30th birthday at the time, it launched a career that would establish him as the world’s preeminent satirist and storyteller.
The art of satire is taking something normal and blowing it out of proportion to the point where it is comical. No one did it better than Twain. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is the story of Jim Smiley, a man whose gambling compulsions knew no limit.
The story goes that Smiley was known to bet on virtually anything. If there were two birds sitting on a fence, he would bet on which one would fly off first. He would bet on dog fights, chicken fights, cat fights, horse races, bug races and frog jumping contests, which the story is built around.
Were the story published today, Twain’s gift for dialects and storytelling would be immediately appreciated, but his satire would not seem nearly as absurd as it did in 1865.
There are thousands of Jim Smileys out there today, people who will bet on anything, especially sports.
Historically, gambling required a physical trip to a casino sportsbook or a racetrack. Today, the sportsbook is in everyone’s pocket. The transition to mobile sportsbooks (like FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM) and digital iGaming apps means users can place complex wagers or bet on live in-game sports events instantaneously from their couches. People can bet not only on the outcome of a game, but also on the outcome of specific plays and the performances of players, something Jim Smiley would no doubt would have embraced.
According to the American Gaming Association, commercial sports betting exploded to $16.89 billion in revenue in 2025 (a 22.6% increase over the previous year). Lifetime sports betting handle (the total amount wagered by consumers) has rocketed north of $650 billion since legal expansion began in 2018.
Reports show that approximately 8.7% of regular sports bettors fit the criteria for a gambling disorder. The average sports betting addict accumulates roughly $27,500 in gambling-related debt before finally seeking professional intervention.
The demographic bearing the heaviest burden of this emerging crisis is young adults — specifically young men and college students, who have been heavily targeted by sportsbook marketing.
Roughly half of all contacts to the national gambling helpline come from individuals aged 18 to 34. As much as 13% of young adult males meet the clinical criteria for problem gambling — the highest rate of any demographic.
Multi-campus university studies show that roughly 39% of college students have gambled within the past year. The issue has become so acute that the University of Mississippi has established a dedicated academic center devoted exclusively to study and treat student gambling addiction.
Federal and state efforts to address this epidemic are currently being considered in Congress and state legislatures.
In the meantime, the best we can do as parents is to keep careful track of our kids’ access to money and credit to avoid the potentially life-altering danger.
Unlike Twain’s short story, there is nothing funny about this issue.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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