In the UK, gambling laws were relaxed a few years ago. As a result, advertising from TV to billboards are dominated by gambling firms, mis-sold payment protection insurance, money lenders and injury claims lawyers.

In short, this makes me uncomfortable. It's become a part of everyday life and is essentially a tax on the most vunerable.

I am an advocate of freedom of choice, whether it's smoking, alcohol and even legalising drug use. However, marketing firms pay millions for the best creative minds to appeal to a target audience. Surely, this means that gamblers are not making a free choice without external influences. Smoking ads are banned here so people can make an informed decision - albeit with an addictive product.

What do others feel about the gambling industry boom?

I bet you $6 that most people feel the same.

Any business based upon an addictive product or service that eventually leads to financial, social or personal issues is inherently flawed IMO. This includes all the products you mentioned and I would never bother them with any of them in excess because of that. Then again, I probably suffer from compulsive gaming disorder so what do I know? :D

[note: I'm a strong advocate of freedom of choice as well, I don't judge others for choosing any of them but I wouldn't touch gambling myself and if I was an investor I would only invest in a gambling project if I had to and of course only if I had control of it so people that can't afford to lose isn't allowed to play]

I remember my dad telling a story about his dad when he was a croupier. He came home one day when my dad was a child and felt sad because one of the gamblers there had put his house as collateral and lost.

Having a relative whose life got pretty much destroyed thanks to gambling, you "bet" i am a tad against gambling.

Gambling addiction is sickness - surprisingly common one at that. And unfortunately a sick person cannot do much about it themselves. Also in case of adult, others can do very little to help in the matter. You cannot take money for adult, you cannot prevent him from going some place to gamble, you cannot prevent him/her from borrowing money (with sick interest rates - where ever they can just get any money) etc

>>> at the point the society DOES take some forcing action to "help" this person (=usually because of something is unpaid) its far, far to late.

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In a sense gambling is a whole lot like the King Alcohol - some can handle it very well without any trouble, but many cant handle it at all.

I wouldnt mind at all if all gambling left somekind of easily followable trace and the "permit to gamble" could be easily taken away in case the person cant handle it. This is ofcourse just wishful thinking.

I wish Gambling was a more useful skill in Fallout

THIS IS A TOUGH ONE! Oy, I'm not kidding.

Freedom of choice rules out above all else (in my opinion) but I keep seeing town after town in the States destroyed by the introduction of gambling. Where I grew up in Missouri gambling almost overnight turned beautiful riverside towns into septic tanks rife with the dregs of society because of casinos not to mention the destruction (albeit mostly superficial) of the once beautiful river banks.

When I was a kid there was a beautiful spot across the river (about 45 minutes from where I was born) where people would gather to see the bald eagles migrate. Now look at it (see below). It looks like a fucking paint truck exploded not to mention NO EAGLES.

Also, if you get some time, go hang out in a pawn shop near a casino, bring a tissue, it's sad. People handing over their fillings for slot money. People cashing in their kid's college funds for a few more hands of black jack. I make it sound melodramatic but it happens every day. I'm not saying this means we should get rid of gambling, far from it, I just know that the farther I am from that stuff the happier I am.

well, i could say a word or like whole books worth of them, but to save everyones time and nerves ill just say i disagree and leave it at that.

That's actually a very very big difference. Although some F2P games are heading towards that model...

it sucks... bucks

...
Oh come on, I apologized! It's not like I said I agreed with the guy!

dont mind gambling if played sensibly but the constant ad attack on uk tv just now of all these online casinos is annoying as hell hell even big brother is sponsored by a casino.

Hmmm. Everybody has a vice. That doesn't mean you should be addicted to it.

There are those who are weaker against temptation of becoming an addict than others (can be alcohol, gambling, gaming, cigarettes, etc.). However, if you ask me, they should ban all king of advertise or marketing of anything than can become a negative vice. The reason: It is easier to overcome the need of something if you are not exposed to it, for example, if you know you can be addicted to cigarettes and nobody offers you one, it is less likely for you to smoke than someone who knows that can be addicted to cigarettes, yet, he goes to places where everyone smokes.

My point is that maybe part of the problem is the amount of advertisement that those products have.

I say it's time to launch the nukes.

True, I've never heard of anybody dieing following several consecutive days of gambling, casino owners care too much to let somebody die at the black jack table.

Bottom line here is that gaming hits the same parts of the brain as gambling does and most modern games are deliberately designed to be addictive.
Precisely. It seems hypocritical to single out gambling when people can also get hooked on gaming. They're both fun activities when engaged in with restraint.

Ultimately, anything taken in excess is harmful.