4 ms·

> It blows my mind. We know so well that gambling is a losing battle. Some can have fun and call it the price of fun, but it's such a slippery slope to find you

> It blows my mind. We know so well that gambling is a losing battle. Some can have fun and call it the price of fun, but it's such a slippery slope to find yourself losing way more than you intended. This what scares me the most in that trend

amelius 3y ago
Gambling should be treated like drugs. Nothing good comes from it. It only increases the wealth gap.
- aaomidi 3y ago
  Legal & regulated drugs generally don’t cause as much damage as legal & regulated gambling.
  - Rinzler89 3y ago
    Gambling mostly damages just the person gambling (and loosing) while drugs tend to damage not just the consumer but also people and the environment around them (violence, crime, homelessness, mental issues, robberies, feces and syringes everywhere, harassment etc).
    - aaomidi 3y ago
      We’ve never really had legal and regulated drug use other than mostly coffee and alcohol. The same illegal drugs used by the lower echelons of society is the same as the ones used in higher echelons of society. You’d be hard pressed to find folks not using hard drugs in the Fortune 500 list. The difference is the availability of drugs. Many rich people never struggle to find high quality drugs. That is not the same for everyone.
      - Rinzler89 3y ago
        >You’d be hard pressed to find folks not using hard drugs in the Fortune 500 list. Oh for sure, the big difference is that rich people can afford to go into the best private rehab whenever they cross the line, whereas working class people tend to end up broke, homeless and sick.
    - pbh101 3y ago
      Gambling can have many externalities too, starting with the families of gambling addicts.
      - Rinzler89 3y ago
        Yeah but much less so than with hard drug addicts. When was the last time a roulette addict took a shit on your car or chasing people in the park? Or a roulette addict being even allowed in the casino having soiled himself? Of course they could have externalities too, but their blast radius is mostly contained to their near circle of family instead of the entire society.
        r2_pilot 3y ago
        I think you'd be surprised at the number of people who wear diapers to the casino so they don't have to take a break from the machines.
        Rinzler89 3y ago
        Yeah but that's a conscious decision, not one do to mental illnesses.
        ac2u 3y ago
        Huh, I think you're splitting hairs at that point.
        Rinzler89 3y ago
        Splitting hairs? Really? So to you there's no difference between someone voluntarily and consciously choosing to wear a diaper so he can continue doing an activity for longer without toilet breaks(some video gamers do that too), and someone who is soiled himself because his mind can't control the bowel movements due to being fried by hard drugs? Yeh, they're technically both addicts, but gambling addicts tend to harass less people and cause less overall ER calls, petty crime, trash, feces in the neighborhoods, than hard drug addicts. One is a much greater annoyance to general people on the street than the other. What actual arguments do you have to refute this other than just calling it splitting hairs?
  - djkivi 3y ago
    Alcohol overuse causes 178,000 American deaths annually: https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2023/11/6/23931877/alcohol-use-disorder-leading-cause-deaths-medication-therapy https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2023/11/6/23931877/alcohol...
- maerF0x0 3y ago
  We need to re-label modern gambling (like the lottery and casinos) into what they are. Cons. An entertaining gamble is one in which you have a real shot. Heck the carnival games at least involve a reasonable skill. Whereas casino games the only skill is how bad you lose. The casino at scale is taking on no risk. (besides that people wise up to their con). IDK about in the US, but in Canada the lotteries do fund a lot of charitable things but I wasn't able to find a good stat about the proportion. Also at the end of a day it just a waste of human potential (running the corporation and wasting human hopes on useless things instead of potentially beneficial things)
  - recursivecaveat 3y ago
    The sad part about Canadian lotteries to me is all the advertising. If we accept the idea that they exist to preempt illegal gambling, no ads are required. The sheer waste of these campaigns, and the likelihood that they are a factor in developing some gambling addictions is quite saddening.
  - tim333 2y ago
    I don't play the lottery but I don't think things like the national lottery in the UK are a con so much as entertainment. People get enjoyment from thinking what if I won the lottery. No one is claiming the mathematically expected value of your return is greater than one.
- manthedudeguy 3y ago
  [dead]
- interludead 2y ago
  Agree, both can have profound effects on mental health, relationships and overall well-being...

amelius 3y ago

Gambling should be treated like drugs. Nothing good comes from it. It only increases the wealth gap.

aaomidi 3y ago
Legal & regulated drugs generally don’t cause as much damage as legal & regulated gambling.
- Rinzler89 3y ago
  Gambling mostly damages just the person gambling (and loosing) while drugs tend to damage not just the consumer but also people and the environment around them (violence, crime, homelessness, mental issues, robberies, feces and syringes everywhere, harassment etc).
  - aaomidi 3y ago
    We’ve never really had legal and regulated drug use other than mostly coffee and alcohol. The same illegal drugs used by the lower echelons of society is the same as the ones used in higher echelons of society. You’d be hard pressed to find folks not using hard drugs in the Fortune 500 list. The difference is the availability of drugs. Many rich people never struggle to find high quality drugs. That is not the same for everyone.
    - Rinzler89 3y ago
      >You’d be hard pressed to find folks not using hard drugs in the Fortune 500 list. Oh for sure, the big difference is that rich people can afford to go into the best private rehab whenever they cross the line, whereas working class people tend to end up broke, homeless and sick.
  - pbh101 3y ago
    Gambling can have many externalities too, starting with the families of gambling addicts.
    - Rinzler89 3y ago
      Yeah but much less so than with hard drug addicts. When was the last time a roulette addict took a shit on your car or chasing people in the park? Or a roulette addict being even allowed in the casino having soiled himself? Of course they could have externalities too, but their blast radius is mostly contained to their near circle of family instead of the entire society.
      - r2_pilot 3y ago
        I think you'd be surprised at the number of people who wear diapers to the casino so they don't have to take a break from the machines.
        Rinzler89 3y ago
        Yeah but that's a conscious decision, not one do to mental illnesses.
        ac2u 3y ago
        Huh, I think you're splitting hairs at that point.
        Rinzler89 3y ago
        Splitting hairs? Really? So to you there's no difference between someone voluntarily and consciously choosing to wear a diaper so he can continue doing an activity for longer without toilet breaks(some video gamers do that too), and someone who is soiled himself because his mind can't control the bowel movements due to being fried by hard drugs? Yeh, they're technically both addicts, but gambling addicts tend to harass less people and cause less overall ER calls, petty crime, trash, feces in the neighborhoods, than hard drug addicts. One is a much greater annoyance to general people on the street than the other. What actual arguments do you have to refute this other than just calling it splitting hairs?
- djkivi 3y ago
  Alcohol overuse causes 178,000 American deaths annually: https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2023/11/6/23931877/alcohol-use-disorder-leading-cause-deaths-medication-therapy https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2023/11/6/23931877/alcohol...
maerF0x0 3y ago
We need to re-label modern gambling (like the lottery and casinos) into what they are. Cons. An entertaining gamble is one in which you have a real shot. Heck the carnival games at least involve a reasonable skill. Whereas casino games the only skill is how bad you lose. The casino at scale is taking on no risk. (besides that people wise up to their con). IDK about in the US, but in Canada the lotteries do fund a lot of charitable things but I wasn't able to find a good stat about the proportion. Also at the end of a day it just a waste of human potential (running the corporation and wasting human hopes on useless things instead of potentially beneficial things)
- recursivecaveat 3y ago
  The sad part about Canadian lotteries to me is all the advertising. If we accept the idea that they exist to preempt illegal gambling, no ads are required. The sheer waste of these campaigns, and the likelihood that they are a factor in developing some gambling addictions is quite saddening.
- tim333 2y ago
  I don't play the lottery but I don't think things like the national lottery in the UK are a con so much as entertainment. People get enjoyment from thinking what if I won the lottery. No one is claiming the mathematically expected value of your return is greater than one.
manthedudeguy 3y ago
[dead]
interludead 2y ago
Agree, both can have profound effects on mental health, relationships and overall well-being...