[Now_is_The_Time]

I have always considered it self-destructive because games are rigged for you to lose. I guess that would make it immoral, but it isn't like killing someone.

[pepperdog]

Well let me be the first :-)

I don't know if it's moral or immoral, but I'm pretty sure it's stupid.

[dakine]

Exactly...entertainment cash...

[csmusaret]

As long as there is money to be made there will be Bingo at the Church.

[dakine]

Give ya' 4-1 that the moral police show up soon....

[stylin19a]

I bet it is immoral

[ozzymandus]

I don't think it's immoral, but it's stupid, and I should know. However, if stupid people want to gamble, it's fine with me.

[GSlob]

Well, some years ago there was an article in Wall Street Journal about the lottery winners (the article mentioned two people, each of whom won two jackpots of a few million over several months. It also mentioned that every lottery winner was immediately beset with requests for money, frequently rather comical and coming from complete strangers).
IIRC, they also mentioned a father-son team who had spent their lifetime savings of some $10000 on the lottery tickets and all they could later say about it was "at the time it looked like a good investment".

[TheSpottedOwl]

Thank you for reminding me to check Wednesday's winning Lotto numbers, and to pick up a ticket for tonight's drawing ;-)

4 bucks a week when I actually remember, versus spending the mortgage payment or the grocery money, is different. I like Vegas for the people watching, but nickel slots were few and far between, back when I was there last.

Btw, your article is excellent, and thanks for posting it.

[snarks_when_bored]

Gambling: Moral or Immoral?

I'll bet this is a trick question...

[Hebrews 11:6]

For what it's worth, here is my personal attitude: there is no such thing as "chance" or "coincidence." Thus, whether gambling is moral or not, in the absence of chance it is truly boring.

If God wants to send me money I haven't earned, He knows where to find me. In the meantime, He has instructed me to keep gainfully employed, so I'll keep doing that, because such obedience is definitely moral.

[Mark was here]

I would say the State Regulation of gambling is immoral.

To me a casino is like a garbage can with a sign hanging on it that reads "Throw your money in here and maybe I will double it!"

People should be free to hang signs on their garbage cans, and if other people want to throw their money it, well good for them.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

The present personal expenditure on gambling is something near $196M annually;

That can't be right. Considering all the state lottos give away hundreds of millions each year, yet make money. Something smells in Denmark, concerning this figure, and it surely aint fish.

[JoeSixPack1]

Life is a gamble. The stockmarket is a gamble. Orders from a drive thru window are a gamble. Running for political office is a gamble. Planning a picnic is a gamble. Arriving safely to work each day is a gamble. Me spelling correctly without spell check is a gamble.

This question is stupid. Always has been, always will be.

The fact that games of chance played for monetary profit/loss is an un-insurable transfer of cash IS the ONLY problem worth addressing. The nanny state is all that's left to bail out the losers and the rightous among us always use the wrong argument to try to prevent it.

As long as people have the ability to choose, gambling will continue.

[Old Professer]

I'll bet you a dollar this guy wrote this just to get paid.

[bigsigh]

on its face, neither. If you start starving the kids then it's immoral.

[layman]

I wonder if Thomas G Herrick has any money invested in the stock market. The bottom line to me is this ... gamble if you want to ... don't gamble if you don't want to. Either way, good luck.

[rdcorso]

A large percentage of the people with gambling problems got that way by gambling illegally.When the government makes gambling illegal it only punishes the law abiding citizen who enjoys it.The problem gambler will find a way to gamble whether it's legal or not.We live in a free country where we should have the choice of whether we want to gamble or not.How could a state outlaw gambling and then run a money making scam like the lottery?Besides,I won $1500 at the casino last Saturday night and I didn't see anything wrong with it.

[hinckley buzzard]

I distinguish between forms of gambling in which the player has some control--e.g. poker--and those which depend purely on chance--roulette. A good poker player can win over the long run. Included in the latter is all forms of sports betting because the bettor himself has no control, even though it would be a stretch to say the outcome was pure chance. I used to work with compulsive gamblers in a treatment program, and I can verify that the sports bettors(including the horses) were the most degenerate narcissists I had ever met en masse. They actually believed that the more they bet, the faster their horse would run.

One thing they all agreed on, however: gamblers die broke.

[unlearner]

This article is about whether gambling is immoral and touches briefly on if it should be illegal.

I don't feel like debating anyone on legality right now, but I will express my reason for saying it is immoral:

It is an activity which requires someone to lose financially.

We all "gamble" every day. We take risks when we get on the road. We take risks when we eat food prepared by strangers. When people engage in gaming for money "gambling" they are doing something selfish.

The same cannot be said of "playing the stock market" generally. Because it is feasible that everyone can win. While gambling may have some entertainment value, it remains unproductive and takes more from society than it gives back.

Some here are saying that gambling is foolish. Well yes, if you are not the house simple math illustrates that a percentage of what you gamble will be lost on average. Contrary to the author's position, the math is not that complex. Casinos want customers to believe in myths like luck, but they base their payouts on the cold, hard facts of math.

I would like to know why moderators consider this opinion piece "news", but when I post current information just published it is deemed general interest. It happens often. What are the odds on that?