Gambling and morality

[schroedinger]

1. One thing that might bother people is the scene I witnessed at Binion's earlier this month, a young mother with a 3-6 month old longingly eyeing the poker pit.

2. The second thing is that generally the person establishing the rules, explaining the game (to the sucker), is also playing the game -- it is seen as the strong preying on the weak (intelligent on the ignorant).

3. Finally, some people feel that players do not understand the twin fundamental theorems of gambling: a) The house ALWAYS wins; and b) if theorem a) is violated, the game closes down.

All of these have parallels in the "legitimate" society, however.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Point 1: It is *you* making the judgment on the woman with the child. You present exactly zero evidence she is doing anything harmful to the child.

Point 2: In a game, which presupposes competition, and in which all participants enter of their own free will, what's wrong with the strong preying on the weak? If you're talking about fraud or collusion, that's another thing, but in a competition, the *only* "moral" result is that the strong should thrive and the weak should fail.

3. There's no mystery that the house has the edge at table games and slots. The house is the business owner and must make a profit in order to provide a place for us to play. In fact, I could make the point that if the house did not make a profit, it couldn't pay a portion of that profit to the government. If the government makes no money off gaming, it makes gaming illegal.

Why do you think they want to ban internet gaming? Morals? Hah! The leeches in DC or [insert name of state capital here]don't get their baksheesh from internet gaming sites.