Gambling Twitter Faux Pas

Gambling Twitter Faux Pas

Last week, Ben Smith wrote an article revealing how private Signal group chats—often including some of the world’s most influential people—serve as breeding grounds for debate, usually driven by one or two dominant voices, ultimately shaping the ideas that later surface on Twitter and influence public perception. It was a great article about a world that you don’t usually get a glimpse into, and gave a unique view of how we got to where we are in this political moment. But it was also hard to read it and not be reminded of gambling Twitter.

It has always fascinated me that most of the main characters on gambling Twitter are either working together in group chats or DMs on Telegram, while crucifying each other publicly on Twitter. Of course, I’m not going to say that the Signal chats of the world’s most powerful people are similar in importance or substance to gambling Twitter Telegram groups. But it is similar in the sense that many of these people on Twitter are also interacting outside of Twitter—often simultaneously as they’re interacting publicly.

Another interesting part of the gambling Twitter-to-Telegram pipeline is how people interact—and more specifically, what is the proper way to interact in these groups and conversations. That is mostly what I’ll be discussing today. I’ve never really discussed this with anyone before, so I’m unsure if other people think in similar terms to me here. If you’ve spent any time on gambling Twitter, you know bettors are very wary of giving away their edge. But mostly, in these Telegram chats, people agree that giving away some edge is worth it for having a larger network of people to discuss betting with. That’s not to say people will give away edges explicitly, but people will discuss how they think about betting, what they’ve bet, and lots of times will write a play they think is good after they’ve filled for themselves.

This creates an interesting dynamic. If someone who is a crusher posts “I think Broncos -2 is really solid” in a group of ten people, is it appropriate for one group member to go blast Bookmaker, Pinnacle, and BOL? Does that group member owe it to the rest of the group to split some of what he got?

There are also some things that happen in these groups and on Twitter/Telegram DMs that are very much my pet peeves. Don’t get me wrong—I have for sure done all of these things I’m going to mention that piss me off. I am not disillusioned to think I’m not a hypocrite in some ways. I’ve also learned throughout the years what I think is bad behavior and what is not. Also, there’s a lot of context to these pet peeves. If I have had a long-standing relationship with someone, it’s obviously different than if someone is just messaging me out of the blue doing something that I would deem annoying or scummy.

Asking About a Market Right at Open

This one is pretty clearly my biggest pet peeve. It goes something like this: It’s 8pm and DK just opened lines for the next day. None of the big shops are even up yet and I get a message: “Sac +6 seems really good?”

This creates a really awkward situation for the person receiving the message. If I agree that Sac +6 is really good, I have no interest in telling whoever is messaging me that I like it. The most likely case is I say “yeah, I really like it,” the person who is messaging me gets confirmation the bet is good, goes and bets it, and now it moves to 5.5 or 5 before I can get anything. The receiver of the message either has to ignore the message, lie that they don’t like it, or say they do and potentially lose the line. All pretty shitty options. Again I’ve done all these things, but I think if you really want to talk to someone about a specific bet that they might also be originating, prefacing with “don’t answer if you don’t want to” or “I can grab both of us some” goes a long way.

Talking Bets

This is kind of the more real version of the collab bets you see dumb Twitter “cappers” post. There are often times where I see a number in a market, I don’t normally bet that I think is interesting—or a market I do bet, but I don’t really have the skills to create a great sim or model for. This is the perfect time for the Telegram network to do its work. I’ll message someone I know who’s more knowledgeable in the NHL than me and we’ll discuss the angle. If the person thinks it’s interesting, it could result in working together or a longer discussion on if the angle is good.

This is all kosher and great, but the weirdness in these scenarios is there’s no set-out structure on how or if the bets should be split if it ends up being a +EV look. I am a big believer that if you reach out to someone with a potential angle, and they help you confirm it’s good, you absolutely owe them a piece of whatever you get down on those bets. Of course, it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. If you reach out saying “am I missing anything here?” and the person says “no, that seems really good,” and that’s all they contribute, maybe give them a small piece. If they were instrumental in finding the edge, maybe go 50/50. But don’t take someone else’s time up with help, then leave them with zero offer if they substantially helped you get an edge.

Larpers

As you become more chronically online to gambling Twitter, you realize there are people who like to pretend that they win at gambling when they do not—and then there are people who have made $10 million+ gambling on sports. Both of these people exist on gambling Twitter, but it’s not like the average Twitter user can know which is which.

This really comes down to that tweet from Diggs: https://x.com/dlGgSyeTaGaiN/status/1607485544564686848. And a big pet peeve is when you see a “larper,” or someone who pretends they’re a big winner, start talking down to a person you know is a big winner.

Conclusion

The reality is, like any niche subculture, gambling Twitter has its own unwritten rules—and violating them might not get you “canceled,” but it’ll absolutely get you clowned in group chats you didn’t even know existed. Being a good hang—someone who shares fairly, doesn’t mooch, doesn’t fake it, and knows when to shut up—is underrated. In a space where edge is everything and reputations matter, etiquette can be very important.

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