Could be in any context. I do it a little on UFC fights but that’s a relatively low amount and I can afford I to lose any time I do. It seems like it’s becoming a really wide spread problem though, at least in the US. At the same time I don’t see why it should be illegal. Granted I also don’t think any drug should be illegal.
Gambling destroys lives. Making gambling illegal may be controversial, but I can’t see any reason to allow gambling ads.
If you want to gamble, then it’s your own life to ruin. If you advertise gambling, then you are ruining other people’s lives.
Ban gambling ads.
Just remember that it doesn’t matter if you have an addiction or not, the reason gambling establishments are as affordable or attractive as they are is because there are people feeding their entire life savings/retirement into them right now destroying their lives. They can afford for you to get that fun occasional win as long as the addicted keep them propped up.
Like all things, fine in moderation. Nothing wrong with friendly wagers among friends or spending some money playing casino games. The gambling industry doesn’t exist off the back of these players though and that’s the problem with it
Wagers among friends is a different thing, and I do sometimes participate in that despite my general aversion to gambling. The stakes are kept low and it’s all in good fun.
My friends and I occasionally have poker nights, and its a lot of fun. Its funny how stakes of $5 or $20 - just a few dollars or cents at most for most hands - make a game much more exciting.
The problem is the casinos and sports betting apps…
I’ll play the lottery as far in advance of a drawing as I can. You pay $10 to see a movie, it lasts 2 hours. I play $10 and dream for days what I’d do if I won. I have no expectations of winning though.
Other gambling? Nope. Very dumb, waste of money
Sports gambling is based casino gambling is slop.
Lmao
John Ralston Saul’s The Doubter’s Companion - The Dictionary Of Aggressive Common Sense sums it up pretty well:
GAMBLING, STATE - RUN When governments raise money by acting as croupiers, the systems they manage are degenerate and are closer to their end than to their beginning.
The Burmese, for example, could always tell when a dynasty was close to falling; it would set up a state lottery. Early in the 1970s, Western governments turned to licensed gambling to provide the funds which TAXATION no longer seemed able to raise. This initiative has been blamed on many specifics: the financial crisis, tax reform which drastically reduced the contribution of the large corporations, the cost of social programs. The combined result was a lack of money which turned into DEBT and that debt into chronic restraint.
From the moment a government encourages its citizenry to finance the state by gambling — which means by idle dreaming — instead of through creativity, work and productivity, that state is in an unacknowledged crisis.
The only nation to have prospered via gambling is Monaco, which is not a nation. It is a corporation specializing in tax avoidance presided over by a croupier prince.
Personally, I think it’s a mug’s game.
I play micro stakes poker. Without gambling its likely that I wouldn’t. Its something I enjoying doing, am able to afford, and entertains me for less than the cost of going to the cinema for, potentially, a longer amount of time. So I suppose I view it as entertainment.
I take part in regular live low stake tournaments, which are more of a social get together than anything really competitive.
I’ll occasionally put a little on horses.
I think issues appears when there no bankroll. I allocate a set amount a month, if I spend it then that’s it. If not then whatever is in the account rolls through. Been lucky enough that I dont have to top it up often.
I dont think it should be illegal, I do think there should be more done about awareness, approaches, and pitfalls. I also think there are personality types which are more prone to issues and that could be identified and addressed by looking at deposit and betting patterns, but the industry doesn’t due to wanting to make money.
I have no interest in gambling. I like watching sports, but I think gambling on it would ruin it for me since the outcome of the game would have a material effect on me.
I discussed this recently with a friend. Commercial gambling, e.g. slot machines, online poker, F2P mobile games, sports betting, etc. seems like exploitation of weak people. These products are carefully optimized for return of investment, which always means nudging people to play more, even if it’s bad for them. This book is pretty good: Addiction by Design - Machine Gambling in Las Vegas
I worked in a casino in the late 90’s. I dealt with supplying the coins and payouts for all the slot machines. When a machine would have a jackpot I could have the payout and paperwork printed and waiting before the techs could get to the machine. Everything would show up on my computer screen, including when there was a machine fill done.
Now ask yourself what prevents the machines from being “tighter” or “looser” at the push of a button or click of a mouse.
Every single game is designed to make the house a profit. The only way to truly win at gambling is to own the casino or not play.
It’s all a scam as the house and all the intermediaries win, the client over time always loses, and somehow we keep doing it in the name of “fun”
I’m not much of a gambler. But I was addicted to a few substances many, many years ago, so I know how hard it can be to get out of an addiction and I don’t agree with the “that’s a relatively low amount (people) can afford to lose”: addiction is a bitch, no matter how high or low, end of the debate as far as I’m concerned as an ex-addict. But I also do believe adults should be considered, well, like adults responsible beings… responsible for how smartly or stupidly they want to spend or waste their one and only life on this planet.
I personally don’t do it, aside from small stakes poker.
I like poker with friends where half the pot covers food and drinks.
If it’s casual between friends, you do you so long as it’s consentual between all involved parties.
If it’s at a real and/or digital casino using real money, I draw the line. Don’t really support them personally.
If it’s something like an old PC casino game I played growing up where there’s typically no real loss besides your time, I’m okay with it. Same applies to games like Balatro or Clover Pit.
Advertising it? Haell nah!
Those online betting sites like the US ones where people have been using insider trading and tampering with sensitive equipment to win bets? Ban the hell out of them!
Sports betting? If it’s consentual between a few friends/coworkers, you do you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t support it because you don’t know whether or not any sore loser will do their best to harass you or worse.
As for legality, I am not a prune about it. Especially since my fursona loves the whole concept of random dice and card luck and at least the card and dice games ( when confirmed not to be rigged ) are mainly pure luck.
