"PGA Tour goes all-in on simulcast gambling"

Morning Read’s Mike Purkey paid for Peacock Premium and did us all a public service in watching the first-ever golf gambling simulcast. Oddly, the whole endeavor is powered by PointsBet whose customers can legally bet in just six states. And sports gambling is no where close to even being on a legislative radar in Arizona, home of the Waste Management Open.

It sounds like there are a few hundred kinks to work out.

The TV guys did their best to explain how it all works and attempted to share their thinking on the faux bets on Thursday. They even asked Croucher and Teddy Greenstein, former longtime sports columnist at the Chicago Tribune, for advice on betting strategy.

To say the PointsBet pair hedged would be understating the point. They absolutely refused to give betting advice, and with good reason. The purpose of a sportsbook is for as many people as possible to lose. That’s why they call it gambling.

The most awkward part of the webcast was the effort by the announcers to mix golf analysis with betting analysis. Do one or the other, but remember: This is not a traditional telecast.

More than once, viewers were encouraged to have a gambling budget and stick to it, that advice coming from the American Gaming Association.

Like I said, thank you Mike. We owe you one.