College Student Finds Immense Success in Sports Betting

On the surface, Vince Masoni seems like a normal college student, a typical engineering major at Ohio State with a passion for sports on the side.  However, the last several years of his life show something far different. Over the course of seven years, Vince has won over $64,000 through sports betting and fantasy sports sites. Here’s how he does it.

There were subtle things about Vince Masoni that showed me he wasn’t just the normal college kid that he seemed to be. His dorm was complete with two large flat screen televisions, each at least fifty inches wide, which I was later told were always on some sort of sports channel as long as he was awake. I had heard about him when we attended high school together, but I never knew what separated him from the pack until we started discussing what’s allowed for his abnormally extravagant lifestyle at such a young age.

“I started off at 13, placed my first bet at 13,” Masoni said. “I’m 20 now, since then, after about seven years I’ve won roughly $64,000.  I’ve ventured off to various betting platforms within sports, but at the end of the day, the fantasy site DraftKings is the easiest and the simplest app I’ve encountered.”

Vince went on to talk about his interest in betting on sports from a young age, whether it be betting on if a team would win a certain game, or where he’s made the majority of his money, betting on which players will exceed expectations on any given day.

“Other than football, I follow baseball too, but with football, it’s something that I follow 365 days a year, Masoni said. “It turns into a lifestyle after a while.  I can remember watching some of the legendary careers in the NFL from start to finish like Calvin Johnson and when it comes to sports and my hobby fantasy football is definitely my go-to.”

I sat down with Vince’s roommate at Ohio State, Max Doppes, a little earlier in the week to find out just how obsessed Vince has to be with his hobby to be successful. His comments were not at all surprising.

“I’ve talked to him a multitude of times about it and I’ve seen his computers,” Doppes said. “He has spreadsheets upon spreadsheets full of stats, stats that others don’t even track, like deep, detailed information.  He uses all of this information and decides what team or player he’s going to bet on on a daily basis.”

I talked to Vince about his spreadsheets, which he wasn’t keen on showing me right away. Though confirming their existence, he was relatively secretive about the information they contained.

One of the most pressing concerns surrounding online fantasy sports betting is the issue of addiction. Over the last five years, advertisements on television and online that bring awareness to gambling addiction have increased by 350 percent. Many of these campaigns encourage viewers to research before they bet.

“I can definitely understand how betting could become an addiction, I have multiple friends who make one to two thousand and then they blow it all,” Masoni said. “However, they’re not me. We talked about how I’ve amassed over 65,000, and I view what I do as more as a passion, a hobby, and a means of income. And with the amount of time that I put in on a daily basis, it’s less of an addiction and more like easy money.”

“I’d say he’s somewhat addicted, anything that involves making money could be considered an addiction,” Doppes said. “However, for the most part, Vince doesn’t get caught up in the excitement of winning a lot of money all at once. He’s very calculated about what he does and very smart about where his money goes on a daily basis.”

Gambling addiction involving college students is seen as especially alarming by experts. According to a study conducted by TIME Magazine, 75 percent of college students have reported that they’ve gambled in the last year.  Also, the risk of developing gambling addictions more than doubles for young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 in a college setting.  Nearly 6 percent of all American college students suffer from some form of gambling addiction, whether it be in a traditional casino format, betting on sports online, or even playing online fantasy sports games such as Fan Duel or DraftKings.

“I would say it turns into an addiction when you start losing and you really think you’re winning, when you’re sacrificing more than you’re getting back,” Masoni said. “And for me personally, I could imagine myself stopping if I was just losing way more than I think I should be.”

Vince Masoni has experienced basically unparalleled success with his record on DraftKings and with sports betting in general. However, he is of the rarest kind when it comes to the business. Winning is not a magical process, but rather a grinding effort.

“Well I would tell them that you can’t just go at it half-hazardly,” Masoni said. “It’s a full commitment, with 98% of the entire process being preparation and the collection of information. Even when you’ve finishing preparing and it’s time for a game or for a slate of games, the stress doesn’t end because of the uncertainty. It takes a lot of trust in yourself and your abilities to understand and interpret statistics and a little bit of luck in the end. But, if you’re willing and committed to doing the research it takes to consistently be successful, go for it.”