The Odds Against Us

Connor Huynh

The Odds Against Us is a podcast focused on gambling awareness and prevention, with an emphasis on how modern gambling environments are shaping youth behavior. Through conversations with experts, advocates, and individuals with lived experience, the show explores how gambling begins, how platforms are designed to keep users engaged, and the growing overlap between gaming and gambling. The goal is to create clear, honest discussions and make gambling risks easier to understand for students, parents, and communities today. Hosted by Connor Huynh.

Episodes

  1. Oct 12

    From Gambler to Preventionist Part Two | Charles Ahern IV

    Connor interviews Charles Ahern, who describes hiding his own college gambling from his parents and argues gambling is uniquely normalized and even encouraged by government and peers, leaving people isolated and contributing to suicide risk. Ahern explains Stop Predatory Gambling is not anti-gambling about social wagers, but opposes “predatory gambling,” where state governments partner with operators to exploit citizens for tax revenue. He criticizes online betting apps for 24/7 access, easy losses, and PR-driven “responsible gambling” tools, and highlights harms from lotteries and casinos, especially in low-income communities, citing research that one addicted gambler negatively affects seven others. He describes SPG’s advocacy and legislative testimony, calls for abolishing online gambling first, warns about industry influence and political spending, shares myths like “it’s a lock,” and ends with hope from youth engagement and a helpline resource.

  2. Oct 12

    From Gambler to Preventionist Part One | Charles Ahern IV

    Connor, a high school student host of The Odds Against Us, interviews Charles Ahern IV, Project Coordinator at Stop Predatory Gambling, a national nonprofit founded in 1993 that opposes state partnerships with commercialized gambling operators and advocates for policy reform. Charles describes his own gambling pathway beginning at age 13 with Madden Ultimate Team pack purchases using his parents’ credit card, then escalating in college when online sports betting became legal in New York, leading to cycles of betting, lying to his parents for money, and losses alongside fraternity peers. He explains how sportsbooks act as a gateway to more lucrative online casino games, how platforms limit winners, and how marketing and celebrity promotion normalize betting for young men. They discuss prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket as gambling framed as “financial markets,” the 24/7 access and live betting that fuel chasing losses, and the high suicide rate associated with gambling addiction and stigma.

  3. Oct 12

    Inside Mississippi’s Fight Against Problem Gambling (and the Rise of Prediction Markets) Part Two | Betty Greer

    Connor interviews Betty from the Mississippi Council on Problem and Compulsive Gambling about how the council functions as an administrative and training arm while contracting telehealth counselors to run the helpline due to high operating costs. Betty explains what shrinking funding has eliminated, including paid TV/radio public service announcements and past support for inpatient treatment beds, and discusses why gambling addiction is difficult to treat, often tied to co-addictions and driven by the “feeling” and chasing losses rather than money. They cover the growth of sports betting and Betty’s concerns that CFTC-regulated prediction markets function like an unregulated nationwide sportsbook, lack responsible-gambling disclosures, are highly accessible, and undermine state control; she also notes links to day trading. Betty addresses casino funding as compatible with a “gaming neutral” stance and highlights resources at msgambler.org, the helpline (888-777-9696), texting MSGAMBLER to 53342, and a free six-week online counseling program.

  4. Oct 12

    Inside Mississippi’s Fight Against Problem Gambling (and the Rise of Prediction Markets) Part One | Betty Greer

    On The Odds Against Us, host Connor talks with Betty Greer, executive director of the Mississippi Council on Problem and Compulsive Gambling, about the council’s role as a gaming-neutral 501(c)(3) that provides public awareness, training, referrals, and a 24/7 helpline with call, text, and online chat options. Greer describes how gambling in Mississippi and nationwide has shifted from primarily casino play to more sports betting and internet gambling, reflected in 2025’s 282 counseling calls where 35% cited casinos, 12% sports betting, and 13% internet use, alongside a younger caller demographic. They discuss underage access, an Ole Miss survey finding nearly 60% of Mississippi college students gambled in the past year, and the need to educate parents and youth. Greer also explains the council’s unstable funding, past state cuts, reliance on voluntary casino donations, and the risk of shutting down without support.

  5. Sep 16

    Pennsylvania’s Fight Against Problem Gambling Part Two I Josh Ercole

    In this episode of The Odds Against Us, host Connor speaks with Josh Ercole, Director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania, about the organization’s neutral stance on gambling and its focus on preventing and addressing harmful gambling behaviors. Ercole explains how 1-800-GAMBLER provides 24/7 Pennsylvania-specific support via phone, chat, and text through a contracted helpline center, and describes the council’s statewide outreach, education, and advocacy with counselors, industry, regulators, and legislators. He discusses defining problem gambling as gambling that negatively impacts daily life, reframing it as the health of a person’s relationship with gambling, and the need to put effective prevention systems in place early. He also raises concerns that debates over whether prediction markets are “gambling” can distract from implementing practical protections for people who are struggling.

  6. Sep 16

    Pennsylvania’s Fight Against Problem Gambling Part One I Josh Ercole

    In this episode of The Odds Against Us, host Connor speaks with Josh Ercole, Director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania, about the organization’s neutral stance on gambling and its focus on preventing and addressing harmful gambling behaviors. Ercole explains how 1-800-GAMBLER provides 24/7 Pennsylvania-specific support via phone, chat, and text through a contracted helpline center, and describes the council’s statewide outreach, education, and advocacy with counselors, industry, regulators, and legislators. He discusses defining problem gambling as gambling that negatively impacts daily life, reframing it as the health of a person’s relationship with gambling, and the need to put effective prevention systems in place early. He also raises concerns that debates over whether prediction markets are “gambling” can distract from implementing practical protections for people who are struggling.

  7. Sep 9

    Inside Connecticut’s Problem Gambling Helpline I Diana Goode

    On The Odds Against Us, host Connor speaks with Diana Good of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling (CCPG) about her path from nonprofit work into gambling prevention and how CCPG stays neutral on gambling to build safeguards and partnerships with operators. Diana explains why industry funding is common in nonprofits, how collaboration helps solve issues (including a FanDuel call-routing/AI problem), and why CCPG emphasizes prevention, advocacy, and a 24/7 helpline (888-789-7777) that connects callers to state-run treatment and other options like Gamblers Anonymous and online groups. They discuss spikes in calls around major sports events, shifting demographics toward younger sports bettors, and how gambling uniquely harms families through debt and “chasing losses.” They also warn about unregulated prediction markets like Kalshi, underage marketing, and the heightened addictiveness of always-on online casinos, advocating for clearer, visible helpline messaging and earlier youth-focused outreach.

  8. Aug 11

    Youth Voices in Gambling and Alcohol Advocacy | Liz Parsons

    Connor hosts Liz Parsons on The Odds Against Us to discuss gambling awareness through the lens of alcohol policy and prevention advocacy. Liz describes work around pushing back on alcohol advertising, including why youth voices can be effective with policymakers, how stigma and social norms among teens shape behavior, and what strategies can shift narratives about alcohol and gambling. They compare regulatory approaches, including raising alcohol prices as a deterrent and a way to fund prevention and treatment, and discuss the challenge of states benefiting from tax revenue. Connor asks about evidence on small price increases affecting youth purchasing, what advocacy tactics worked or didn’t, and what parents and teens can do at home and among peers to talk openly and reduce harm. They close with motivation for continuing the fight and a realistic policy goal.

  9. Aug 5

    How Gaming Became a Gateway to Gambling | Matt Missar

    In this episode of The Odds Against Us, host Connor speaks with Matt Missar, a licensed clinical social worker and internationally certified gambling counselor who also treats gaming disorder, about the growing convergence of video games and gambling. Messar explains what his clinical work looks like, why many younger clients arrive at their parents’ request, and how gambling-like mechanics in games (such as loot boxes and pack openings) can prime early exposure to casinos and chance-based rewards. They discuss whether and how governments could regulate microtransactions, how underage users access gambling through offshore sites, social casinos like Fliff, prediction markets, bookie systems run by students, and parents’ accounts. Messar critiques gambling advertising and streamer promotions, outlines warning signs for parents, describes shame and denial in addiction, and shares counseling approaches and his Powered Up Parent/Player courses designed to support healthier gaming balance

  10. Jun 12

    From Madden Packs to Mobile Betting | Charles Ahern IV

    What happens when someone who lived through gambling's grip turns around and spends his life fighting it? In this episode of The Odds Against Us, host Connor talks with Charles Ahern IV, a former gambler turned preventionist and Project Coordinator at Stop Predatory Gambling. Charles opens up about his own experience with gambling and the path that led him from teaching and coaching into full-time advocacy. From there, he and Connor get into why the industry calls it "problem gambling" while advocates call it predatory, how 24/7 mobile access and microbetting mirror the reinforcement schedules of slot machines, and where the line between gaming and gambling has quietly disappeared. Charles also breaks down the conflict of interest baked into a system where the government profits from the gambling it's supposed to regulate, and much more!

    From Madden Packs to Mobile Betting | Charles Ahern IV

  11. Apr 5

    Youth Gambling Is a Public Health Issue | Ben Spooner

    In Episode 1 of The Odds Against Us, Connor Huynh is joined by Ben Spooner, a prevention specialist with the Education Development Center and the Massachusetts Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling Prevention. The conversation explores how gambling is viewed through a public health lens, the rapid rise of sports betting, and what these changes mean for youth exposure. They also discuss how gambling platforms are designed to keep users engaged, the growing overlap between gaming and gambling, and the challenges of preventing harm in an increasingly digital environment. This episode sets the foundation for understanding how gambling begins, why it’s so difficult to regulate, and what can be done to better protect young people.

  • 11 Episodes

About

The Odds Against Us is a podcast focused on gambling awareness and prevention, with an emphasis on how modern gambling environments are shaping youth behavior. Through conversations with experts, advocates, and individuals with lived experience, the show explores how gambling begins, how platforms are designed to keep users engaged, and the growing overlap between gaming and gambling. The goal is to create clear, honest discussions and make gambling risks easier to understand for students, parents, and communities today. Hosted by Connor Huynh.

Information

  • Creator
    Connor Huynh
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Connor Huynh
  • Show Website
    The Odds Against Us