The gamblification of collectibles, with journalist Nick Devor

Trading card packs increasingly look and feel like gambling, yet sit outside gambling regulation. Host Jon Bruford talks to Nick Devor, who covers prediction markets and online gambling at Barron's, about where collecting ends and gambling begins.

In this episode

• At Fanatics Fest, a card-shop worker told Devor to move four cards from the back of a Pokemon pack to the front, prolonging the anticipation of a hit, "the sweat" (16:58, 18:57, 19:29).

• Devor cites a researcher's study of 50 card packs in Hong Kong that found "no pack allowed the consumer to know their odds of getting every individual card" (23:14).

• The researcher's second study found spending on card packs with random cards is linked to problem gambling, and a treatment provider told Devor it logged a 207% rise in patients talking about trading cards over 12 months (27:04, 27:44).

• He says everyone is now chasing rare hit cards with huge aftermarket value, such as a one-of-one Steph Curry card that recently sold for about $20,000 (24:01, 24:42).

• In his corner store, Pokemon card dispensers had replaced the scratch-off ticket reels; for small shops, he says, the cards carry far less sales tax and regulation (12:51, 13:22, 36:24).

• When Bruford says any oversight would have to be federal, Devor agrees and cites an ex-Fanatics Collectibles executive: no politician will call opening a pack of trading cards gambling (38:56, 39:12).

Episode from The Gambling Files (RTFM) by Jon Bruford and Fintan Costello, published on YouTube.