Gambling in any form is bad if you ask me but

Question

is gambling in one form worse than it is in another? I know its evils but just am curious if one way is worse than the next?

Answer 1

maybe if theres cruelty such as in c**k fights thats worse

but otherwise gambling is harmless and it is the individuals responsibility to deal with whatever consequences

Answer 2

Unlicensed, unregulated casinos/gaming houses are probably the most dangerous form of gambling activity, places in which punters are encouraged to gamble, or allowed to gamble, beyond their limits can be absolutely deadly.  Any person or establishment who lends you money to gamble probably does not have your best interests at heart.

Any professionally run gambling arena is "evil" inasmuch as it is designed to remove you from normal stimuli and focus your attention on an expensive, ruinous and addictive pursuit.  From my personal experience, gambling is more addictive than heroin, and the "legitimate" casinos are no more moral than tobacco companies, or a street corner crack dealer.

Whether gambling is "evil" or otherwise is outside my authority to comment, but in terms of safety, games amongst private individuals, where there is no profit motive beyond the desire to win the money on the table is probably the safest and most "honest" way to gamble.  Playing with your friends is just as exciting, but rarely as profitable as playing in a backstreet poker game, but you're less likely to end up dead/homeless/addicted.

Answer 3

All gambling are the same (bad) but when you gamble what doesn't belong to you is definitely worse and can get you into some serious trouble.

Answer 4

I think your statement is too sweeping and extreme.

I used to play Newmarket with my grandmother and family for pennies.  The most you could realistically win or lose in a night was about a quarter or two.  Yet it was a family fun night that technically speaking involved gambling.  I'd hardly see how that is 'evil' or 'bad.'

If I buy a lottery ticket, I am clearly gambling.  But about 1/3rd of the money I spend on a ticket in this state goes to provide education opportunities for the less fortunate.  Our state was very late to adopt a lottery (being very conservative and backwards), but since it has $1.2Bn has been raised to provide education to those who want it.

I'd rather this money be raised by the voluntary purchase of a lottery ticket, than a forced tax.

Then there is the employment gambling produces.  I read that over a million people in America are employed in the gambling industry, and many more are employed in related industries such as suppliers to casinos etc.

So there are literally millions of people who rely on gambling in one form or another for their livelihood.

To have such I biased opinion, I imagine you've met someone with a gambling problem.  Well, that happens.  Some people cannot control themselves and waste money they don't have.  But then the same could be said of excessive spending on credit cards.  Or people who become alcoholics rather than occasionally drinking socially.  Or people who take some legally prescribed painkillers and become hooked, and start to commit crime just to get more.

There are a lot of activities in this world that, if take to an extreme, can be problematic.  But this doesn't mean that the answer is for the government to treat us like children, and ban such activities for 'our protection.'  Not that banning gambling would make it go away of course.

But in terms of bad gambling, I'd say anything involving animal cruelty would qualify.  c**k fighting, dog fighting, that kind of thing.

But the rest of it is, for most people, good harmless adult entertainment.  The best the government can do is police it, tax it, regulate it, and let people do what they wish to do.

Answer 5

It depends. For example, I payed absolutely 0 dollars to play poker (with the help of this site http://www.pokerstrategy.com/u8W2EZ ). So, if I got nothing to loose(except time perhaps, but I do find it fun), then why not play?

You shouldn't play poker only if you do it primarily for the money. You should play poker for fun. Also there are allot of fun poker rooms on the net, where you can play for free.

Answer 6

Money won is twice as sweet as money earned.  

Answer 7

It's no worse that any other form of entertainment IMO. People can blow amazing wads of money on all sorts of things (ever know anyone who was into the Beanie Baby craze?) Unfortunately, too often the kneejerk reaction is to ban the activity because it's 'bad', 'immoral' or 'evil', instead of addressing the real problem: immature, mentally weak or dependent personality types.

Answer 8

I know they refer to video poker as the 'crack cocaine' of gambling, so maybe that game is worse than the rest. If you consider games of skill, like poker or gin rummy, to be gambling than I would have to say those games are better than games of chance, where the house wins.