Do You Think Gambling Is Wrong?

**livetech** · Nov 5, 2008 06:29

Gambling can be fun, sociable and rewarding (okay, rarely rewarding)

Gambling can also be miserable, antisocial and suck all your money.

I've gambled before, I've been to casinos, I put £2 a week on the Football and Friday nights are usually spent around itboxes with mates, trying to beat Deal or No Deal. I've lost money, but I've had fun, and suffered nothing worse than developing a deep hatred for Noel Edmonds.

It can screw people up, but these people may have been screwed up by alcohol, drugs or something else. A number of people can enjoy gambling responsibly, like a number of people can enjoy alcohol responsibly. It does annoy me that certain aspects of the UK media don't want to build super casinos (which will provide taxes & jobs) because of the moral argument. Roads kill people, doesn't mean we don't build them.

I'm watching this topic for interest for the first person to say "gambling is wrong" and link to a casino affiliate site in their sig.

**Limotek** · Nov 18, 2008 07:14

Gambling certainly isn't wrong.

At the end of the day, it's the individuals choice to decide whether to gamble and how much to gamble. I think some people just need to better realise the consequences of their actions.

If a person gambles £5,000 in a week and wins £1million and they're known as lucky or 'good' at gambling. It's all chance in the end but that seems to be forgotten when you win. If another gambles the same £5,000 in a week and loses, suddenly they're deemed to have a problem. I don't agree with this at all.

If you're prepared to gamble, you must be prepared to lose and must accept the choices you have made, win or lose. I find it hard to feel sorry for people who gamble with rent/food money.

**ferrari_chris** · Nov 18, 2008 13:23

Originally Posted by Limotek

... It's all chance in the end ...

It's not chance at all. The easiest way to outline this, is that if it was chance then some people wouldn't be good at it and people wouldn't consistently win.

Unless were talking about pokie-machines which are essentially flushing money down a toilet...

**Limotek** · Nov 19, 2008 03:49

Ferrari,

I can appreciate that there are methods that help to improve your odds but at the end of the day, it still boils down to chance! Name me one system or person that/who guarantees 'consistent wins' from gambling.

There are great poker players who are incredibly talented at calculating odds in their head and reading other people, but even they will admit that they occasionally lose. Why? They tell you they were dealt bad hands or the right cards didn't come up. It comes down to chance in the end!!

**kennethquinn** · Nov 19, 2008 04:26

Well everything in its limits looks good
when it gets out of hand its always bad
so gambling itself is not bad but alot of ambling may destroy
your house and aswel as finish up your money....
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**ferrari_chris** · Nov 19, 2008 16:38

Originally Posted by Limotek

Ferrari,

I can appreciate that there are methods that help to improve your odds but at the end of the day, it still boils down to chance! Name me one system or person that/who guarantees 'consistent wins' from gambling.

There are great poker players who are incredibly talented at calculating odds in their head and reading other people, but even they will admit that they occasionally lose. Why? They tell you they were dealt bad hands or the right cards didn't come up. It comes down to chance in the end!!

That's like saying all sport is chance. The All Blacks consistently win, but they lose occasionally too. Does that mean rugby is chance?

When I speak of gambling I'm referring to Poker - where it's not about the cards you get dealt, it's about how you use them. In the words of Kenny Rogers: "Every hand's a winner, and every hand's a loser."

As for consistently winning - I reference any Poker champion. When I play Poker I consistently beat a friend of mine. But another friend consistently beats me too. I can't consistently have the same luck (that wouldn't make sense) - so I have more skill than one friend, and less than the other. Chance has little to do with it.

**HAWK** · Nov 19, 2008 16:48

Yup, gotta agree with you there Chris.

Having said that - poker is the game on which you are gambling. They are seperate activities.

**lesterdonovan** · Nov 19, 2008 18:08

Originally Posted by Limotek

Gambling certainly isn't wrong.

At the end of the day, it's the individuals choice to decide whether to gamble and how much to gamble. I think some people just need to better realise the consequences of their actions.

If a person gambles £5,000 in a week and wins £1million and they're known as lucky or 'good' at gambling. It's all chance in the end but that seems to be forgotten when you win. If another gambles the same £5,000 in a week and loses, suddenly they're deemed to have a problem. I don't agree with this at all.

If you're prepared to gamble, you must be prepared to lose and must accept the choices you have made, win or lose. I find it hard to feel sorry for people who gamble with rent/food money.

I absolutely agree. I used to work for a startup online company, and we all pitched in our savings and whatever we could hock and sell just to get it off the ground. We were ok for almost a year before our esteemed president, the oldest in our group of friends and partners in the business, suddenly vanished without a trace. I'm sure he's ok, somewhere, probably Canada, although the sad part of it all is that it turns out he gambled away all of our pooled money. Every single dollar. We knew he used to have a gambling problem, but we did see that he was ok for a couple of months, and he did say he didn't gamble anymore, and the rest of us, like the suckers we were, believed him. Moral of the story? Gambling doesn't make people lose money. People make people lose money. Or something.

**tiger325** · Nov 19, 2008 21:31

as long as it does not become an addiction or interfere with financial obligations

**Limotek** · Nov 20, 2008 04:23

I do agree with you to some degree; however:

Originally Posted by ferrari_chris

That's like saying all sport is chance. The All Blacks consistently win, but they lose occasionally too. Does that mean rugby is chance?

To some degree yes. Not knowing too much about rugby, I'll use football as an example. There is an element of chance. A mistimed tackle means a player could get a yellow card in some instances and a red in others, this can have a huge impact on the game. Whether the referee decides to give a penalty or instead book a player for diving is partially down to chance?

Of course football is predominantly based on skill and I certainly won't dispute that, but if a team has three players sent off and has 3 penalties awarded against them unjustly, there's pretty much nothing they can do regardless of how good they are.

Chance doesn't play that big a part in the game of football as there are plenty of known factors (players, tactics, training), however, the entire game of poker is based on the unknown; the unknown order of cards in the deck, the unknown cards held by each player; the unknown intention of other players (bluffing/trapping/etc). That's the basic rules of the game. How can you say the game is not based on chance?

Originally Posted by ferrari_chris

As for consistently winning - I reference any Poker champion. When I play Poker I consistently beat a friend of mine. But another friend consistently beats me too. I can't consistently have the same luck (that wouldn't make sense) - so I have more skill than one friend, and less than the other. Chance has little to do with it.

I agree that you can tip the odds in your favour by learning how to calculate odds and how to read people, but even the WSOP champions would have to admit they get beaten every now and then. I don't think it's because they don't understand how to improve their odds or that the other player is necessarily better. That really only leaves luck/chance.

Originally Posted by lesterdonovan

Moral of the story? Gambling doesn't make people lose money. People make people lose money. Or something.

I completely agree! I think the reason so many people lose so much money is that they believe gambling is all a matter of skill or in the case of bookies/casinos, they believe they can beat the system. As soon as you lose sight of the fact that it's luck/chance, you're leaving yourself open to trouble!

Why is it that if a gambler wins; they'll tell you it's because they're good at what they do, but when they lose, they'll say they were unlucky!

**mirage12** · Nov 20, 2008 04:59

Excessive gambling is really wrong..But it depends upon the situation I guess.

**tke71709** · Nov 20, 2008 15:37

Originally Posted by lesterdonovan

We knew he used to have a gambling problem, but we did see that he was ok for a couple of months, and he did say he didn't gamble anymore, and the rest of us, like the suckers we were, believed him.

Once a gambling problem, always a gambling problem (goes for other addictions too).

**Li Weng** · Nov 20, 2008 20:15

I don't think it's wrong as long as you can control yourself.

**nishagun** · Nov 20, 2008 23:28

it depends how someone uses it .

**rypher21** · Nov 21, 2008 01:18

Originally Posted by tiger325

as long as it does not become an addiction or interfere with financial obligations

i agree with you...as long as you can still control yourself and it doesn't affect your daily living....

**TannerCreative** · Nov 21, 2008 15:15

I don't know if it is wrong. I just don't think it is wise.

**xfilespoker** · Jan 2, 2009 18:59

Playing slots is WRONG!

Playing POKER is not WRONG... (If you know what you are doing)

Poker is a SKILL game - yes - Luck is factor.. but SKILL can overcome the bad runs..

I have a poker blog for a few years.. On it I stress - GOD.FAMILY,FUN... - if anyone wants to read - just say yo and LET ME KNOW..

You can think any way you want - but I know I have done really well (as did my family) with poker.

Slots - They belong to the DEVIL.. (lol)

Actually - I think GOD made it all - so I bless every bit of it.. Even the bad..

Thanks God for GAMBLING! The people I have met playing have made my life really cool.

**Adamparera** · Jan 3, 2009 00:01

Originally Posted by Redcheeks

The only good thing I see coming from gambling is when someone actually wins. Whether it's poker,lottery,slot machines,football pools and others of course. Who wouldn't want to win some mad cash?

We all know that no form of gambling is guaranteed, unless you're the only one that's playing. Since it's clear that the average person usually loses more than he/she wins, then wouldn't the bad out weigh the good?

Do gambling destroy a lot of homes and families? Can it kick you out in the streets? Maybe, if you are gambling with your rent money.So I guess my question is "Is gambling a sin?" Is it putting money before God?

Every time every person go for gambling.Life is the big gamble for human beings.They have to play it either they w'nt to play or go with it.I mean to say if you want to go for gamebling in particular venue there you have fifty fifty chance to in your hand .so why should they not go with gambling.

**jabo** · Jan 3, 2009 04:26

our life is a huge gamble, on the daily basis, we gamble something whether what we risk are our money or something else... that is why I don't really see what is wrong with gambling, a lot of people do a lot of things that are wrong in the eyes of the other, but the thing is, some people doesn't really know about it that much to make them realize that its not that bad with others.

**trebor_evets** · Jan 5, 2009 20:19

It becomes very wrong if there is an abuse to it..

**southcarolinaweb** · Jan 8, 2009 17:57

gambling provides many jobs directly and indirectly for people of this world, it is only bad when your addicted to gambling

**bengregg** · Jan 8, 2009 21:01

I do not think there is anything wrong with gambling. It is just a risk, and if you take the risk it is your own fault if you happen to loose.

**WebSquid** · Jan 10, 2009 02:42

I don't believe gambling itself is essentially a sin, its the lust and greed that result from it which are bad.