Gambling Always Dangerous
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.