It is not paranoia if people are really out to get you, and you floppy shoe fucks sure have proven that.
You believing people "are really out to get you" is a product of your own paranoia. Regardless, there's a million ways to handle a bet where you would never sacrifice your legal well-being if you were interested, not that it was ever an issue for 1 second.
I mean plus like, what prosecutor is going to go after the people betting among themselves? That's pretty much unheard of when it comes to small recreational people. They're going to go after the people using setting up gambling clubs and rings, and the people running big programs like this. No one cares (AT ALL) about the little people that are doing casual gambling.