Are you interested in games of chance played for money AND activities associated with the governance of a country or other area? Let's talk!

What do you guys like better: Trump or Craps?

FWIW, I'm going with Craps.

I'd even pick Crap over Trump.

I’ll be having fun donking off my money betting on sumo tournaments.

Black is dead, always bet red

The thing I find interesting about this topic from a political perspective is that it's one of the few remaining topics that doesn't seem to sort closely along party lines.

(Many of) you guys are gonna think I'm a libertarian ****** by the end of this thread.

How much you wanna bet?

Ha I'll lay off this one, I really dunno for sure. You think most people will be sympathetic to the laissez-faire side of the argument? I'd be mildly, but not completely surprised.

Also, in before some ****ing moron is first with the "(FORM OF GAMBLING IM +EV AT) should be legal but nothing else should!" argument. We should all prepare to see a record amount of logical gymnastics ITT.

This is surprisingly close to the description of the state of Florida's approach to gambling.

Oh interesting. I was at Hard Rock Hollywood in January and definitely noted the distinct lack of craps tables, didn't know why.

The evolution of legal poker in Florida led to the creation of some very ridiculous rules. Like for instance, $100 max buyins at $5-$10 no limit tables. After a rather long period of the stupid rules, things improved quite dramatically and poker is pretty decent down here.

I do wonder though how states are going to deal with the idea of legalized sports betting. I assume some may allow it to be immediately privatized, but I think others will come up with really bad rules, perhaps rivaling the ridiculous Florida poker rules that prevailed for several years. Legalized sports betting is going to put a dent in lottery revenues, so I suspect some states will try to combine the two, only to find that sports betters will not be cool with 50% vig which is common in lottery games.

FL cliffs:

-NO LOTTERY (okay we will have lottery)

-NO CASINO GAMBLING (okay we will allow gambling boats but they have to sail 3 miles from our shores otherwise it's a sin)

-NO ONSHORE CASINO GAMBLING (okay but only on Native lands, er, okay in town but the Natives own the building and only poker that's it, er, okay blackjack too but that's it except poker, er, okay 3-card poker but THAT IS ALL, er, parimutuel is also cool I guess but NO SPORTS BETTING FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS)

Also we have a ballot initiative this year to shut down all the dog tracks, most of which have poker rooms attached to them except for Seminole County's track which just happens to sit across the street from a megachurch.

Thanks for this.

California is pretty weird too:

Lottery=yes

Ponies=yes

Casinos=yes, but im pretty sure only card based games are allowed, and you can't lose money to the house. Poker is obviously ok as-is, but for BJ/baccarat there's someone at the table who acts as the bank. You pay both the vig of the game to the bank, as well as an additional seat fee to the house, so the odds are obviously horrendous.

Indian casinos=I think, none of the above restrictions that other casinos face? Graton doesn't have craps, but this might just be a business decision by them.

This landscape is actually great if you're +EV at poker, since poker is the main game in town and whales can't find any craps or pit games with decent odds to lose money at instead. Selfishly I hope it doesn't change, but it's quite clear there's no coherent logic behind the gaming laws here.

I'll just repeat my comment in the Trump thread: "IMO gambling is a scourge and a tax on the poor. It's a terrible industry and it should be shut down and (in an ideal world) casino moguls (Adelson, Wynn, Trump) should be imprisoned or at least cast out of society. I would make an exception for (regulated) poker (game of skill; hard to lose a ton unless you try really, really hard), but as far as I'm concerned those profiting off gambling should be hanged by their feet in the public square."

Well that didn't take long.

Which other of these behaviors would you ban?

Drinking
Smoking cigarettes
Selling/eating processed food
Riding a motorcycle
Selling/wearing diamond jewelry

I'm fairly sure all of the above are -EV for society in general, and most disproportionately affect the poor. Ban all of the above?

Well, I'm kind of a killjoy and probably would have been taken up by the temperance movement (though I like to drink). Of the above, however, would only outlaw cigarettes and gambling. Though would require helmets for motorcycles. I don't mind the idea of "vacation" gambling destinations, though they are likely harmful overall, but ubiquitous gambling is very damaging. Also, if I thought it were in any way realistic, I would outlaw video games for more than 2hrs/day.

Namath, you can still bet on jai alai, though, right? If that's not sports betting I don't know what is.

KY Governor: Give me small government and free markets.

Also KY Governor: Casino gambling, pot legalization "not going to happen."

Wow, sound like your last Vegas trip didn't go to well. I feel you. Here's some advice - next time play Pai Gao! You can usually play for a long time on just a $500 buy in. And drinks are free!

eh, maybe, the fronton in Orlando is still open but it's only OTB now I think. They don't play jai alai there anymore. It's possible that Miami still has it but I haven't checked.

But yeah that's yet another example of the hodgepodge insanity of our gambling laws here.

simplicitus,

Really? If so, you're probably the most totalitarian poster on 2p2.

My biggest problem with prohibition of things like gambling is that it's completely incompatible with democracy. Sure, if 2+2 posters were god-emperors for life we might make some societal progress by banning net negative behaviors. The problem is that sometimes in democracies, people like Trump get elected. You really want THAT guy determining what behaviors humans can and cannot engage in? Of course not, and that is why we should err very hard on the side of keeping these behaviors legal.

Wouldn't your opinion apply even more so to state run lotteries?

Do governments with big safety nets have a greater right to ban such things than governments without them?