3 ms·

Just because gambling in general is legal doesn't mean every possible gambling event is legal. If someone got caught hosting a dog fight, they don't get off the

Just because gambling in general is legal doesn't mean every possible gambling event is legal. If someone got caught hosting a dog fight, they don't get off the hook because gambling is legal. I can't think of a single reason why such laws against unethical or violent gambling shouldn't extend to human suffering as well.

mytailorisrich 6mo ago
As far as I understand, there is no suggestion that this wager is illegal. It is just in bad taste and, from the POV of Polymarket bad publicity that they'd rather avoid (not least to avoid stricter regulations, which are being mulled). Even here in the UK, where betting and bookmakers are legal and regulated, I think such bet is perfectly legal if you find a bookmaker to offer you odds on it.
- MentatOnMelange 6mo ago
  Thats my point, the law has not caught up to new forms of gambling. The fact its legal to bet on whether another human being will live or die is not due to society condoning it. It's because when laws against such barbaric practices were implemented, nobody imagined they'd need to worry about people gambling on bad things happening to other human beings. This is in part how creating laws is supposed to work. You legislate things when either something bad is happening or is likely to begin happening soon. When something new is comparable to existing unethical practices, the fact we have to update the laws is not an excuse for it being legal. Its just that the alternative is making laws based on whims or conjecture of what might happen.
  - randomNumber7 6mo ago
    Dogfights are illegal because it is cruel to let the dogs fight to death. It's s.th. different when events happen anyways and you just place bets on them.
    - hgoel 6mo ago
      That supposes that the events are decoupled from the bets, when we've already had several cases of people possibly betting on things they either have control over, or have insider info on. Plus, all of the reports of people being bet on receiving threats. It's like we've forgotten all about why gambling is so heavily regulated in most of the world. It always metastizes into a cancer upon society unless very carefully and strictly confined away.
      - codeddesign 6mo ago
        Wall Street is heavily regulated, and yet both of your examples still occur. This happens in sports betting as well, which is also regulated. Neither of your examples show a material change or resolution due to regulation. The only result would be increased bureaucracy and decreased technology advancement.
        deleted 6mo ago
        [deleted]
        bigbadfeline 6mo ago
        > Wall Street is heavily regulated, and yet both of your examples still occur. > Neither of your examples show a material change or resolution due to regulation. I'm not sure how "still occur" became "the same result in both cases" - the latter is an extraordinary claim lacking any evidence. Are you assuming that regulation is only admissible when it prevents every single event that is contrary to it? Moreover, we are often seeing cases of regulation theater - the regulations in the books have convenient loopholes or are only selectively enforced, if at all. Even in these cases it's a serious stretch to claim that the situations with and without regulation are materially the same.
        codeddesign 6mo ago
        Does insider trading still routinely happen? YES. Do athletes, refs, coaches still throw games? YES. Your argument is that regulation would fix both, and my argument is that regulation has not fixed either. Wall Street is just as shady not with regulation as it was in the 1930’s without. The only major difference now is that the IRS is able to track and tax smaller entities easier.
eviks 6mo ago
Hosting an event isn't gambling, why are you conflating those?

mytailorisrich 6mo ago

As far as I understand, there is no suggestion that this wager is illegal. It is just in bad taste and, from the POV of Polymarket bad publicity that they'd rather avoid (not least to avoid stricter regulations, which are being mulled). Even here in the UK, where betting and bookmakers are legal and regulated, I think such bet is perfectly legal if you find a bookmaker to offer you odds on it.

MentatOnMelange 6mo ago
Thats my point, the law has not caught up to new forms of gambling. The fact its legal to bet on whether another human being will live or die is not due to society condoning it. It's because when laws against such barbaric practices were implemented, nobody imagined they'd need to worry about people gambling on bad things happening to other human beings. This is in part how creating laws is supposed to work. You legislate things when either something bad is happening or is likely to begin happening soon. When something new is comparable to existing unethical practices, the fact we have to update the laws is not an excuse for it being legal. Its just that the alternative is making laws based on whims or conjecture of what might happen.
- randomNumber7 6mo ago
  Dogfights are illegal because it is cruel to let the dogs fight to death. It's s.th. different when events happen anyways and you just place bets on them.
  - hgoel 6mo ago
    That supposes that the events are decoupled from the bets, when we've already had several cases of people possibly betting on things they either have control over, or have insider info on. Plus, all of the reports of people being bet on receiving threats. It's like we've forgotten all about why gambling is so heavily regulated in most of the world. It always metastizes into a cancer upon society unless very carefully and strictly confined away.
    - codeddesign 6mo ago
      Wall Street is heavily regulated, and yet both of your examples still occur. This happens in sports betting as well, which is also regulated. Neither of your examples show a material change or resolution due to regulation. The only result would be increased bureaucracy and decreased technology advancement.
      - deleted 6mo ago
        [deleted]
      - bigbadfeline 6mo ago
        > Wall Street is heavily regulated, and yet both of your examples still occur. > Neither of your examples show a material change or resolution due to regulation. I'm not sure how "still occur" became "the same result in both cases" - the latter is an extraordinary claim lacking any evidence. Are you assuming that regulation is only admissible when it prevents every single event that is contrary to it? Moreover, we are often seeing cases of regulation theater - the regulations in the books have convenient loopholes or are only selectively enforced, if at all. Even in these cases it's a serious stretch to claim that the situations with and without regulation are materially the same.
        codeddesign 6mo ago
        Does insider trading still routinely happen? YES. Do athletes, refs, coaches still throw games? YES. Your argument is that regulation would fix both, and my argument is that regulation has not fixed either. Wall Street is just as shady not with regulation as it was in the 1930’s without. The only major difference now is that the IRS is able to track and tax smaller entities easier.

eviks 6mo ago

Hosting an event isn't gambling, why are you conflating those?