I realize the irony of posting this in the politics forum of a poker forum as a former poker player, but I am genuinely curious about people’s thoughts on this. I think the laws in this country have grown way to lax regarding gambling and this is a net negative on society. I don’t believe this because of any right wing “moral” or religious concerns, but rather because I think that gambling in general, and especially government run/sponsored gambling and things like lotteries are regressive taxes on the poor, and to a lesser extent on the stupid and bad at math. Gamblers are disporportionately poor and old. While there is obviously some entertainment value/ entertainment EV in gambling, I believe that for most it is a net negative, and especially for the most vulnerable in society who often fall prey to it’s allure.

I think that the expansion of casinos from AC and LV out to the rest of the country and all over the place has been a huge net negative on society, and I also think that that the widespread adoption of state lotteries, where previously numbers games were only underground affairs run by organized crime, has been a particularly pernicious plague on the poor and uneducated.

I’m curious if anyone else shares my views or if I’m a huge outlier here. I am also a huge hypocrite as I still do play the occasional poker or gamble at the occasional casino once every few years or so.

yes

Like every other vice, people are gonna find a way to gamble even if it is banned.

If it isn't in a licensed casino, you can guarantee that the mob will be around to take advantage of degens who want action.

And yes, gambling is without question a net negative on society. There is no positive contribution that comes from it. It doesn't provide a service for anyone, most people lose money and the biggest winners are billionaire enterprises.

I agree that it would never completely go away and it would be run by the mob (There were numbers games run by the mob before there was a lottery). That said I think there would be a lot LESS gambling if it was illegal and the harmful effects it has on the poor and poorly educated would be greatly diminished if it was illegal.

I should clarify that when I say I think it should be illegal I’m not talking about non-raked poker games, or dice games, or gambling amongst friends. I’m talking about government sponsored or corporate sponsored for profit casinos, lotteries, and sports-betting.

One thing that irks me about state lottos is that the odds are so ludicrously bad. There is a Keno game at bars and Michigan and the odds are unbelievable, and to the point about the poor and poorly educated, most of the players do not understand this at all. On top of that, they’re constantly offering new add on games where you can wager more money on some additional terrible bet. It’s insane how much money people lose at a gambling game that’s almost exclusively offered in places that serve alcohol, and is run by the government. As most here, I do enjoy gambling, and as I do it casually I usually don’t even care if I’m getting the worst of it, but I can’t play Keno on principal (unless I’m like really drunk, like once a year drunk).

For the average 2p2 user its a net positive but for society as a whole i'm sure it's a net negative

That said of course it should be legal because free will/banning things doesn't work people will gamble anyway in less safe environments and so on and profits will go to criminal enterprises instead of businesses and government through taxes

I mean they banned online poker in Australia/USA and people still play, they just play on shady sites with no legal recourse if the site decides to steal from them

online lotto purchases infuriate me because i loved online poker. but if i got my poker i wouldn't care, i'd be like **** it i'm smockin bongs making $$$ in my underpants, sup

No

I’d rather see it regulated by the government and taxed than banned. It would also be nice if the industry or the government did more to help addictive gamblers.

I lean towards no, but I'm pretty torn on this tbh

jman, do you think sugar and/or alcohol should be illegal?

Entertainment

mcdonalds should be illegal way before gambling

I think sugared drinks and sugar levels in food should be much more heavily regulated than they are right now. Alcohol is an interesting one. I always used to say that it made no sense to me that alcohol was legal while marijuana was illegal. Alcohol is a far more dangerous, deadly, and addictive drug than marihuana. Now that marihuana is increasingly legal I’m losing that cop-out answer. I will say this: Prohibition did not work and was a huge societal negative so I do not favor a return to that. By contrast I don’t think America circa around 1979 when lotteries were illegal basically everywhere and casinos only existed in AC and Vegas had the same issues vis a vis gambling.

Even though I lover poker, gambling is a net negative for society. But if you ban it, people will find a way to play it so you may as well legalize and regulate it.

Sometimes I think state lotteries should be banned, but they help reduce my taxes so I guess they can stay. But it should be illegal to sell tickets anywhere I shop so I don't always get stuck behind some idiot who needs to spend 20 minutes lighting his money on fire while I wait to buy a six pack.

Op was poorly worded. I’m not talking about a “war on drugs” style ban on all gambling. People could still play poker with friends, throw dice, bet on sports with each other, whatever. I’m talking about a ban on government sponsored or corporate sponsored gambling. I just don’t think you see the same level of illegal gambling under that framework. LIke, there was illegal sports betting and such but not to the same level that you see drugs in our “war on drugs” approach.

I think it’s pretty obvious gambling is net negative on society when adding everyone together. At same time seems obvious it should not be illegal either and plenty of people derive reasonable and responsible entertainment from it.

Personally I think getting rid of lotteries and internet slot/table game gambling and then restricting organized gambling to casinos would be the maximum EV from a societal standpoint. Now from a purely utilitarian standpoint it would be “best” to force you to prove a certain net-worth to enter a casino, but I would never advocate that due to the obvious moral/ethical issues.

Posters ITT referring to "the government" banning gambling or "the government" running state lottos, you do understand how the legislative branch works right?

I voted before reading the clarification. Gambling, just like alcohol, is an enormously positive aspect of human society dating back thousands of years. State-run monopolized gambling is pretty ****ing immoral though and shouldn't exist.

One of the biggest reasons gambling has blown up in the last couple of decades in the USA/Canada/UK (probably others I'm unaware of) is right wing governments slashing taxes and then finding the revenue in a different more harmful way. Not great!

Gambling is a net loss on society, but it should still be legal because people should be allowed to make their own decisions.

There are some of us who enjoy gambling and even make some money off of it. Some people abuse it and I don't think that alone should limit our freedom here.

ya this is why I think gambling should be illegal. but its not realistic. even if it was made "illegal" there would be carve outs for such state sponsored horrible odds games. but ya, if I could end the lottery and then all poker and other stuff was made illegal then ya, I would do it.

but proly the best situation would be no monopolies and encouraged competition. notice how vegas has tons better odds than podunk casinos in ohio or whereever that were gifted to some billionaire and by law there are no competitors.

I sound like some free market nut so really if we are going for pipe dreams, I guess the best would be if it was fairly legislated and the odds werent absolutely atrocious. I know ppl that blow like all their money on keno and thats garbage.

Is that really true though? I feel like every time I”ve been to Vegas in recent years I couldn’t help but notice how all the normal stakes blackjack tables are now 6:5. My podunk local casino has 3:2 with surrender and stand on soft 17.

6:5? Now that's friggin criminal.