AGAINST BANNING GAMBLING

FOR BANNING GAMBLING

1. AS GOOD AS ANYTHING

As the popular adage goes, time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. Say what you want about gambling, but you cannot deny that it is fun. Heck, even if you do try to deny it, the science will just prove you wrong. We now know that gambling triggers the release of dopamine in our brains which, by definition, is linked to pleasure. All humans like the thrill of a possible reward. Gambling, by its very nature, provides that for us. As long as you go into it treating it like any other leisure activity – where you may actually have to pay up – it’s fine.

1. AS BAD AS IT GETS

Religions across the world have been warning us of the dangers of gambling for centuries. “You cannot serve both God and money,” sayeth the Bible. The Talmud condemns gambling as a sin. The Quran lists it as haram. Certain sects of Hinduism specifically forbid it. Would it not be prudent to heed the common wisdom of these great faiths?

Even if you’re non-religious, you’ve surely heard horror stories wrought upon families by gambling. Be it fathers or mothers abandoning their parental responsibilities, losing life savings or destroying their home lives, it’s not a pretty sight. Gambling can be seriously detrimental to your social well-being.

2. FREEDOM

We’re all adults, aren’t we? Do we really need a nanny state to regulate our behaviour? At the end of the day, it should come down to personal responsibility. If you want to go ahead and gamble, you should have the freedom to do so. It’s never a good idea to grant governments the right to legislate morality. We’ve already seen the disastrous results that led to in regards to sexuality and drinking. Of course, like anything, there is always the risk of gambling being abused by individuals. That’s the risk you find with any recreational activity. However, it’d be foolish to create laws based on the extremes.

2. ADDICTION

Of course, you’re free to do as you wish, but how free are you really once you fall into the dark grip of addiction? Problem gambling is a well-known psychiatric issue. Gambling triggers the reward centre of the brain. For certain individuals, this pleasant sensation creates a compulsive disorder. In Europe, pathological gambling rates vary between 2% and 6.5% in the adult population. That’s not a negligible number.

3. IT’S USEFUL

Money, money, money. That’s what gambling is all about at the end of the day, is it not? What better way for the state to collect tax revenue than by tapping into such a lucrative sector. In 2015, the money brought in by gambling in Europe was 94.2 billion euros. To put that into perspective, that’s nearly 2/3^rd of the EU’s annual budget. You’d have to be an idiot not to exploit that goldmine.

3. IT’S RIGGED

The house always wins. Of course it does: why else would anyone want to open up a casino? The capitalist system is based around return on investments. Casino owners and gambling websites know this all too well and, of course, they specifically create business models to ensure profitability. You could well be one of the very lucky few to benefit from this system, but you’re far more likely to be the stupid schmuck that loses everything. May the very low odds be ever in your favour…

This mini-debate was presented off-the-cuff - without preparation nor research - for fun in a frivolous environment. Victor and Jim went head to head to dete. In Support of Legalized Sports Betting: It is already a thriving industry. The betting industry has blossomed regardless of its legality. Illegal sports betting is a multi-billion-dollar industry (some estimates are as high as $150 billion); anyone who wants to place a bet can do so easily online or through local office pools and offshore books. You are absolutely right. Slot guys who bag high wins on online slots that 'NEVER' give the normal gambler a thing. It is fake news and should be banned but will it help? Better that people are aware that things are not what they look like online. Believing those types of influences is poison nothing more.

All of my opponent's arguments for why gambling should be banned focused on the 3% of gamblers that can be classified as problem gamblers. The bad decisions of the people in the 3% should not affect whether or not the 97% of responsible gamblers are allowed to gamble. Gambling can be fun, stimulate the economy, and create jobs. The issue certainly deserves our careful consideration–but not because public debate will determine whether Internet gambling gets prohibited or legalized. No amount of debate will do that.

IMAGE CREDITS: (C) BigStock – maxxyustas

Length: 12 pages
Sources: 1+
Subject: Recreation
Type: Term Paper
Paper: #38979622
Related Topics: Gambling, Money Laundering, Sports Betting, Victimless Crime

Excerpt from Term Paper :

Washington Capitals hockey star Jaromir Jagr is a latest example of a star being enticed and getting involved with the gambling world. (Kyl, 2003).
The involvement that some users get with online gambling can lead to obsessive behavior and an eventual disregard or inattention to the workplace or family which could lead to domestic stress when things start to go bad, or one experiences fraud and deceit and looses a big chunk of money. It could lead to further loans and debts, financially and economically stressful situations for not only the user but his wife, kids, friends, etc. (McMillen, & Grabosky, 1998).
As a whole, the society gets influenced negatively with the increase in unemployment rates and money crimes like bank robberies out of desperation to repay debt, bankrupt citizens. Estimates show that about 1/3-1/4 of gamblers being treated in the Gamblers Anonymous survey have experienced a high unemployment phase along with another survey that showed an estimate of 28% out of the 60 suffering and struggling gamblers who had experienced bankruptcy or were in heavy debts within a whopping range of $75,000 to $150,000 (National Research Council, 1999; Kyl, 2003).
The round offs for the social loss when looking at the approximate expenses of gambling rehab management, unemployment reimbursements, deprived corporeal and cerebral health, welfare remunerations and work loss amount to $1,200 per 'pathological gambler' and $715 per 'problem gambler' annually as shown by a survey done by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). In the same survey the estimates show rounded off figures of $10,550 for every pathological gambler, and $5,130 for every problem gambler when dealing with the enduring expenses of gambling like liquidation, captures, captivity, lawful separation expenditures, etc.; the total of all these factors amounted to an approximated annual value of $5 billion per year, with a supplementary $40 billion for the lifetime costs (National Research Council, 1999; Kyl, 2003).
Arguments in Favor of Legalizing Online Gambling Online Gambling Should Be Banned Debate

Herrmann in his book thoroughly assesses the political context of online gambling. While discussing the politics behind the online lottery and casinos, he highlights that by the end of the Great Depression, any and every form of legalized gambling was restricted within a few namely states, eight to be exact, Nevada being the only one having legal casinos and seven others that had the pari-mutuel betting on the horse racing venues as a legal part of the games. He also acknowledged the increase in this number at the advent of the 21st century when Utah, Hawaii and Tennessee were the only states within the United States that did not permit any form of gambling activities. (Herrmann, 2002)
The U.S. government, since the breakout of Internet gambling in 1995 has tried to restrict the activity from growing through imposition of laws and regulations on the gambling bodies, however, after a decade of its birth, most of these efforts have been in vain as internet gambling spreads farther into the world with a growing acceptance and liking of the concept (Prystash, (http://acacia.org.ohio-state.edu/documents/601Paper-JohnPrystash.doc). Debate

A survey conducted as the outcome of the sudden increase in demand and social acceptance confirmed the fact that internet gambling had won over th