I don't see an issue with there being a forum for gambling only. Scanning through the marketplace it almost feels like it's become the gambling forum already, and i think that might be a sore issue for those of you with just a regular non-gambling business.
But consider that since they removed the gambling section from the bitcoin wiki (because it's illegal in Japan?) that this has become our home, if you will...
As a runner of a bitcoin lottery, I also appreciate that people don't have an issue with the 1-3% rake that we take. I myself do a 2% rake, but my site is not that popular yet, and most of my payouts (actually all of them, i think) have been < 1 btc, and as such Im not necessarily raking it in
And I absolutely am grateful for the trust people put in my site (and other lottery sites). As others have noted, we could take the money and run at any time. Personally, I love doing this just to be a part of the bitcoin revolution. It's a labor of love and over time I hope to establish the fact that no matter how much btc ends up in the pot, I'm not going anywhere with it. Honestly, I would take on the transaction fees and pay every sitting bettor back before taking any money if I were ever to have to stop doing this for whatever reason.
And for those pooing the idea of the "ponzi scheme" games here, I think anyone who is partaking in them knows whats up. Can it really have the intent of a real-world ponzi scheme if the entire process is transparent? Sure, some people won't make btc in them, but we're not talking life savings here, just a few btc. It's all fun in my opinion, perhaps even for some of us a way to replace the rush of online poker
![Smiley](https://bitcointalk.org/Smileys/default/smiley.gif)
Thanks to everyone who's played my games, and also thanks to those of you who have sent me pm's to help me in my game and on these forums. It's really appreciated!