2 ms·

The "You Can't Ask That" episode on gambling in Australia was a massive eye-opener for me. They interview a bunch of people who are lifetime gambling addicts. I

The "You Can't Ask That" episode on gambling in Australia was a massive eye-opener for me. They interview a bunch of people who are lifetime gambling addicts. Its shocking how badly its ruined their lives. I have no idea how many people who gamble regularly have a problem with it; but I'd support banning gambling entirely. https://iview.abc.net.au/show/you-can-t-ask-that/series/2/video/LE1617H010S00 https://iview.abc.net.au/show/you-can-t-ask-that/series/2/vi... (Does iView work outside Australia?)

speakfreely 4y ago
> but I'd support banning gambling entirely If this was possible, that would be great. But you cannot eliminate a service where there is sufficient demand. You can only drive them underground, which frequently cause worse externalities for society than the original things being banned (drugs, prohibition-era alcohol ban, prostitution).
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mrguyorama 4y ago
For my brother's bachelor party, I went to a casino for basically the first time. We were there from quite early in the afternoon and it's absurd the clientele that can be considered "regulars". As my brother darkly called it: "You have to be careful, otherwise you will lose your trailer". Meanwhile at least one old man spent several hours assuring us of his "system" to "beat the odds" while he lost hundreds of dollars, never once showing even the slightest understanding of what "the house always wins" means. Indeed, the rules for play for the card games were artificially more complicated than they could be, in my opinion this was done in order to more confuse players and make them think they found a "hole" in the rules to "beat the system" Too many people, especially here, espouse the "but gambling is entertainment" line. I don't buy it. I've spent thousands on video games, and sitting in front of a slot machine built by "Konami", a literal video game publisher, and it was abysmal from an entertainment aspect. Nobody would pay to play these games if there wasn't some internal pretending that "I can beat the system"

speakfreely 4y ago

> but I'd support banning gambling entirely If this was possible, that would be great. But you cannot eliminate a service where there is sufficient demand. You can only drive them underground, which frequently cause worse externalities for society than the original things being banned (drugs, prohibition-era alcohol ban, prostitution).

deleted 4y ago
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mrguyorama 4y ago

For my brother's bachelor party, I went to a casino for basically the first time. We were there from quite early in the afternoon and it's absurd the clientele that can be considered "regulars". As my brother darkly called it: "You have to be careful, otherwise you will lose your trailer". Meanwhile at least one old man spent several hours assuring us of his "system" to "beat the odds" while he lost hundreds of dollars, never once showing even the slightest understanding of what "the house always wins" means. Indeed, the rules for play for the card games were artificially more complicated than they could be, in my opinion this was done in order to more confuse players and make them think they found a "hole" in the rules to "beat the system" Too many people, especially here, espouse the "but gambling is entertainment" line. I don't buy it. I've spent thousands on video games, and sitting in front of a slot machine built by "Konami", a literal video game publisher, and it was abysmal from an entertainment aspect. Nobody would pay to play these games if there wasn't some internal pretending that "I can beat the system"