Arguments against the legalizing online casinos are perhaps as diverse as the people that make the arguments.  The bottom line as to whether one thinks online casinos are dangerous or not, the industry is truly made less dangerous by having some sort of regulatory body to protect consumers.  However, some people not only disagree with legalizing online casinos, they think gambling in general is a dangerous activity.

John Stemberger of the Florida Family Policy Council believe that whether gambling takes place in the form of poker, slot machines, or online casinos, it is not a healthy pastime.  According to Stemberger, gambling will ultimately lead to divorce, addiction, suicide, and bankruptcy. 

“All gambling is either unhealthy, unproductive or destructive,” Stemberger said.

Not all gambling opponents are as much of a doomsayer as Stemberger.  Pat Fowler is the executive director of the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling.  According to Fowler the council gets most of their calls about addiction from slot machine and poker players.  Unfortunately, poker players are often over $10,000 more in debt than slot machine players.

The poker community has been attempting to distinguish the game apart from online casinos; simply because poker is more of a skill based game, which would make wagering on poker legal in many states.  Fowler does not dispute that poker is a skill based game, but warns that the game is still very dangerous.  He believes that the skilled poker player is an exception to the rule and that the average player is usually so unskilled that they may as well be playing a game of chance.