I hate it.

I think gambling has tainted sports and is the epitome of corruption to the core. It's very ironic that a baseball player by the name of Pete Rose, got a lifetime MLB ban for gambling, yet give it 20 some odd years later and Draft Kings is promoted which is gambling.

It fuels addiction, it makes people throw away anything they could that they could bet with, on the off chance, which is narrow, of winning it big.

It's why I hate Las Vegas entirely, I hated it when poker games were nationally broadcast for a while at one point and so on.

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

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...

Im a victimless crime guy (I use the term loosely and am aware for anyone seeing the term that you can say the user is a victim or knock on effects) so like all this stuff being legal and have felt that way forever. I do want it highly regulated to minimize harm and I think it should be taxed higher than less harmful things. One thing I did not realize until legalization occured that advertising is really problematic with all these type of "adult" activities. So now I am a bit modified in my stance that I don't think advertising should be allowed outside of the establishments themselves. So no roadside signs about a casino at the next exit and such. To see cigarette, alcohol, drug, prostitution, gambling ads you should have to be in one of those establishments to begin with which should not allow minors. So like kids should not be allowed in liquor stores or bars even with a parent. Things like casinos can have hotels where kids are allowed but no advertising for it there. It should be treated as a seperate business that just so happens to have a path to the casino.

Anything where you're putting money in and hoping to get more money out, where it's a zero sum game and any winnings will come from other people doing the same, is gambling imo. A gamble can be a good financial investment if you only do it in situations where you know you have some kind of edge, but doing it for fun is stupid because it fucks with your emotions and you're just going to get screwed out of your money that way. If you are playing against people gambling for fun, rather than playing against "the house", that might be one you can win.

Morally I think the ideal situation for gambling is one where people in bad financial situations get together so at least some of them can escape those situations. The worst is when people who don't need more money ensure all of the profits will go exclusively to them, and no one else will really win.

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.

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.

Like most things in life, in moderation it can be fun. Adding some stakes to an activity can make it more exciting.

It becomes a problem when people don't have the self-control to self-regulate, and when it's designed to prey upon those people specifically, or to prey on desperate people who feel like it's the only chance they have to get ahead, or who don't have a good understanding of the risks or chances of winning.

Humans as a whole are bad at understanding probability, and our brains are wired such that the happy chemicals we get from winning are more impactful than the unhappy chemicals we get from losing. As such, someone can be losing money overall, but still feel like they're winning, or at least, still get the rush from winning even though they're way down overall. That's dangerous, and gambling companies are designed to specifically target those people and exploit those destructive behaviors. It's like the experiment with the rat that was given a button to give itself happy drugs, and it just sat there pressing the button constantly. Basically, the regulations are necessary because of capitalism, and because without them, those people would very quickly ruin their lives given the chance while the companies running the operation give zero fucks about it.

Then there's the fraud. Look at prediction markets. They're rife with fraud and bet fixing and it's not only politicians and policymakers doing it. John Oliver had a piece on this recently where he goes into some detail, but there've also been articles about journalists getting harassed and threatened because they report on something that would cause a Polymarket loss.

In conclusion, some humans are shitty and we need regulations to keep shitty people from doing shitty things.

I personally don’t do it, aside from small stake poker.

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.