Anyone daring enough to place a bet that socialist political commentator Hasan Piker would praise Latter-day Saint apostle D. Todd Christofferson during the online influencer’s nine-hour Sunday Twitch stream would have cleaned up.

“The Mormons are waging a war against gambling,” Piker, one of the internet’s most ubiquitous faces, said, referring to Christofferson’s now-viral General Conference sermon on the subject. “It’s hard for me not to give a shoutout to the Mormons on this one.”

Neither was Piker alone in praising the leader’s harsh words against prediction markets, online sports betting and casino-style games.

“GOOD,” declared a fired-up journalist and author Jill Filipovic upon hearing news of the message by one of the highest-ranking leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Filipovic shared a video, originally posted by the church-friendly @allthoseinfavor, of men groaning and gripping their heads in response to Christofferson’s sermon.

“Every LDS guy [right now],” reads the text in the corner of the clip, viewed more than 6 million times on the social media platform X.

Reactions to the video — and the talk generally — fall into three main types.

The first: applause and gratitude.

“I was trapped in the addiction of gambling crypto for many years,” writes one commenter. “I lost a lot financially, but I also lost some really good relationships and several years of my life. Thankfully, with the help of the 12-step [addiction recovery] program and the atonement of Jesus Christ, I’ve been free from addictions for two years. This talk is very wise counsel and if you’re struggling with a gambling addiction, seek help!”

Said another: “His talk was needed. I’m grateful for it. I think it also reflects a vibe shift. This conference has felt a lot more direct on behavior and doctrine than several in the past. And I’m here for it.”

The second kind of response revolves around confusion that others view Christofferson’s comments as noteworthy in the first place.

“Did we not already know that gambling is a sin?” reads a response that could stand in for countless like it. “Why was this surprising?”

Countless, including this one: “Why are people freaking out like he said something new?”

The third type of reaction, meanwhile, amounts to a sheepish “oops.”

“I just put money on BYU right before this talk,” confessed one commenter. “It was directed right at me.”

Offered another: “I have three sports bets going right now.”

Rather than focus on the need for legislation or possible structural reforms restraining the industry, Christofferson focused on theological arguments for its sinfulness.

“For us as Latter-day Saints,” he explained, “overarching all other concerns is the fact that gambling is morally wrong. Gambling is built on the desire to obtain something for nothing. Its structure requires that any gain comes at others’ expense. It’s hard to reconcile that with the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.”

For some, this final point was one that hit particularly hard.

“I like how he said that when you win big or small, you are doing so on the spoils of another,” wrote a commenter. “That woke me up! I’m not a gambler but have played once or twice.”

At least one post pointed a finger at the church itself.

“The church gambled money on the stock market and made billions,” remarked the commenter, “but I guess that’s not the type of gambling they care about.”

Regardless of whether one agrees with Christofferson’s framing, this fact remains: It no longer takes a trip to the casino to lose big on betting.

It’s a point McKay Coppins, a Latter-day Saint staff writer for The Atlantic whom Christofferson cited in his sermon, has been making since research for his article on the topic spelled out the risks.

“I started with $10,000,” Coppins said in a recent “Mormon Land” podcast. “I ended with less than $200. I lost, basically, all of it.”

By raising the issue in arguably the faith’s most authoritative venue, Christofferson was engaging in his own sort of wager.

As yet another commenter asked: “What are the odds Mormons will listen to him?”