Ben Affleck laughs about his son’s surprising interest in sports betting

Ben Affleck is sharing a funny and surprising story about his youngest son, Samuel Affleck. In a recent appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Affleck opened up about Samuel’s latest source of interest: sports betting. 

Samuel has had an interest in sports throughout his youth, with him photographed with his parents attending various basketball and baseball games in states like Los Angeles and Boston, representing some of his dad’s sports interests. 

Affleck shares that his son’s interest in sports has morphed into something more. “My son asked me like a month ago, [he] was like, ‘Hey, um, can I get like 100 bucks to bet on sports?’” he said. 

Samuel shared a story, revealing that his generation is already into sports betting. “It’s like, what?” continued Affleck, shocked. “He’s like, ‘My friends get $100, but if they lose it, then that’s it.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s a real standard, what discipline! So that you don’t come twitching back going, ‘I know that Green Bay is going to cover the over in the second half.’”

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Affleck linked this story to that of his father, who was a bookie when he was young. “My father worked at a bar but mostly made his money sort of being a small-time bookie,” he said. 

“I remember our first washing machine, our first VCR, in fact, dad coming home like, ‘You can thank Steve Grogan for this,’ the quarterback of the Patriots. ‘Everybody keeps betting the Patriots to beat the spread.’ And so I really was grateful that the Patriots were terrible; just thank Steve Grogan’s knees for our VCR,” joked Affleck. 

“At the time, it was, like, shameful and kind of illegal. I mean, the statute of limitations has run out. Sorry, dad,” Affleck concluded.

Samuel’s expensive taste

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In past years, Affleck has begun sharing some stories about his son, who is 13 years old. Last year, in a video shared online, Affleck and Samuel were seen at a sneakers convention. The clip went viral and showed Affleck turning down his son’s request to gift him $6,000 sneakers. 

“You like those because they’re expensive,” said Affleck. 

“No, they’re tough! I’ve always said they look good!” replied Samuel. Affleck ultimately told that Samuel needed to “mow a lot of lawns” if he wanted to be able to buy those shoes with his own money. 

After the video went viral, Affleck shared his reasoning with numerous outlets. “He was like, ‘We have the money.’ I was like, ‘I have the money! You’re broke,'” recalled Affleck in an episode of “Today with Jenna & Friends.” 

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