There's been controversy surrounding legalized gambling (eg casinos) for a while, with people against legalized gambling claiming that it starts and then feeds gambling addictions, causes bankruptcy, and is responsible for some crime and corruption. Here's some examples from a site against gambling;

Addiction

Bankruptcy

Crime/Corruption

But other groups that are pro legalized gambling refute these claims, saying things like gamblers know what they're getting into when they step into a casino, that legalized gambling provides a safer environment for gamblers (versus something like a game in a shady setting with no security etc, I would assume), and things of that nature.

Post your opinions and please back up major claims with some type of reference or statistic rather than posting some wild, idiotic 'fact'. "GAMBLING IS CAUSE TESTICULAR CANCER I NO IT DOESZ" <- I'll eviscerate anyone making posts like that with a rusty spoon.

Now gogogo.

Gambling can ruin lives. But so can a lot of other things. Also, not everyone is prone to developing a problem. I dont want the government baby-proofing semi-dangerous stuff.

I think gambling should be legalized ( if it isnt ) sure you may lose money
but you may even get lucky and win money

Only idiots gamble with that purpose in mind. People who gamble in general are fools.

However, if they're stupid enough to risk money on something so foolish they deserve to lose that money. The money I've seen/heard some people blow in one night is crazy. Guy blows $10,000 in one night gambling (which I've seen), in a month would blow $300,000. Using that $10,000 I'm capable of doubling that money within a 2 or 3 months, with fair market conditions. So in a year he would lose over 3 million dollars while in a year I would have gained about $150,000, again with favorable market conditions. Though the probability that I could consistently double my worth every 3 months is rather slim, even so I'm definitly going to make more money than 99.9% of all gamblers that year with only $10,000 starting cash than if they had $3,000,000 in starting cash.

Then there's the fun aspect. This is only bearable to me if the gambler in question sets a reasonable cap on how much they're going to gamble with. With $5,000 you can buy a much more fun night, like a night out at the club and scoring big, rather than losing shamefacedly to a machine. At the very least make sure then if you're choosing the latter that the machine only eats what you can afford to give without ruining yourself.

It's fine. It's entertainment, and any half-smart person knows what his/her chances are at winning.
For anyone else.....well, let's just say it's natural selection taking it's course.

It's great for the economy, and it only ruins the lives of the losers who start in the first place. Everyone wins! Except the losers. It's really their own fault.


You are kidding me.

Blackjack and Hold'Em, bro. Anything else is no skill and bad odds.

Gambling has existed for thousands of years.
I don't think its really the Casinos and other places faults, you just have to know when to quit.

sure gambling can be harmful. is say CAN BE because the individual needs to already have an addictive personality. the average person can gamble a bit, know when enough is enough and leave, others can't do this. It is the same as alcoholics not being able to stop drinking. Is gambling dangerous? Yes, but so is everything else in life so no, i don't think we should ban it.

For me there are two main points to consider here.

1. "Gambling is illogical. The odds are against you"

This argument is technically true, but in practice it can be moderately wise to gamble. As the person who used it here said, some people enjoy gambling, so if you can afford it, fire away. Secondly, with, say, lotteries (since this is on the topic of casinos, this may be ever so slightly off the point, but still it's gambling), what you pay for a chance to change your financial horizon for good has little to no effect on your finances if you do it wisely. It doesn't hurt having a lotto line or two going every week, it's a fraction of your salary. Then there's the fact that you can actually be good in "gambling". Even though (I take it) the term is defined as "guessing the outcome of something completely random", it's not that. In poker you can read other's tells, or just play your cards wisely and go for realistic hands if you know others will be reckless. You can count cards (inside your head) in blackjack. Likewise in derbies you can know things about the horses, although this is a bit more professionalized than your average Sunday better.

2. Casinos cheating.

A lot of you may have been screaming "lol, what an Exzibbyt, doesn't he know you can't count cards in blackjack, you get banned from the casino", or something of the sort, either inside your head like normal people, or in three-line posts like /b/tards who get seizures trying to read more than five lines of text at a time. Raging aside, this is the reason people think gambling is bad. This is the reason it actually is bad and destroys lives. Casinos do kick good players out. That's cheating. If someone can count cards in their head, let them, or change the game so that it's downright impossible, not only to the average mind, but logically too, so that the outcome of a draw really is random. And it doesn't end there. You don't have to "cheat" to be kicked out, you're not allowed to be too good. It's like banning a team from using a layer that's better than any of the opponents. Secondly, they lay out the establishment in a way to encourage people to spend more, which I guess should be considered just good planning. Still, (I don't know if it's a myth but it's what I hear,) pumping oxygen into the gambling area is a bit unfair. Why don't they just mandate a 3-per mil alcohol level in the blood then? Oxygen pumped in technically intoxicates the people too, in the sense that they make decisions differently from how they would in normal conditions


Have fun with the wall of text.