- Former NBA players shared how learning dice and card games from family normalized gambling during their childhood.
- Early exposure taught them about gambling's risks, including witnessing addiction and financial loss in their communities.
ATLANTA – The way people navigate casino culture throughout their lives is influenced by their early gambling exposure. This truth was recently brought up by former NBA players Iman Shumpert, Zach Randolph, and Tony Allen during Shumper’s All In Blackjack Podcast.
They reflected on how their early exposure to card games and dice shaped their connection with gambling. By their teenage years, both players recognized gambling's dangers. Randolph revealed he intentionally stopped playing blackjack and dice seriously by age 21 after recognizing the pattern of losses and the addictive pull of chasing wins.
The conversation touched on how blackjack remains popular in states with blackjack and how young players believe they can master various blackjack strategies and betting systems.
The key lessons learned from their childhood exposure included how gambling can quickly escalate from casual fun to serious financial risk. Further, knowing your opponents matters as much as understanding the game.
Setting Boundaries
Allen recalled specific instances of being outplayed by professional dice shooters who could remember every bet and calculate odds instantly. These encounters taught him humility and showed that gambling required expertise he hadn't fully developed, not just luck.
Randolph had similar experiences growing up in communities where card games and dice were commonplace. They watched adults play pitty pat and shot dice on a regular basis while absorbing the rules and culture before they could fully participate.
However, these early years taught them gambling's dual nature.
They witnessed the excitement and social bonding that came with games, but also saw devastating consequences when people lost control. Randolph specifically mentioned observing theft and addiction in his community, watching people lose money they couldn't afford and relationships crumble over gambling debts.