Should humans be free agents in the gambling world?

[StackGambler]

Obviously, when you think of freedom, it usually comes with a positive connotation in the mind. Freedom is the lack of restrictions, and being able to do what you are economically incentivized to do.

Right now, the brick-and-mortar gambling world is heavily regulated. Monetary inflows and outflows are monitored, people are not let in without rigorous identity checks, expensive licenses need to be obtained from the government in order for a casino to set up shop, and so on. Clearly, the government is trying to control the world of gambling. It's their belief that we, as humans, are not able to decide for ourselves, and that our choices may have negative impacts that we did not forsee.

On one hand, this comes off as rather patronizing. It's our money and our life, and we should be able to do with it what we please. The manifestation of this idea is the realm of anonymous cryptocurrency gambling, where anybody can make an account, deposit bitcoins, and start gambling. There are usually no identity checks, no location checks, no age checks, or anything of that nature whatsoever. This is the worldview that devans, the owner of bustabit holds - he believes that we should give humans credit where credit is due. We are the smartest, most evolved organism on the planet, and we should be allowed to do what we want with our own money. We don't need a father figure in the form of the government to tell us what we can and can't do with our own funds. The financial freedom that bitcoin itself signifies is also signified by the existence of such anonymous, unregulated gambling institutions. Nobody is forcing anyone to gamble - it's all a matter of responsible choice.

However, on the other hand, gambling is not an activity that is as impactless as riding a bike or watching a movie. Gambling can have serious and profound effects on people. Their brains, their lives, their families. Gambling is addictive, and especially for children, it can cause a permanent change in one's brain chemistry. The way we process dopamine is changed dramatically once gambling comes into play: the baseline dopamine level rises higher and higher, until gamblers no longer find pleasure in normal things, and can only be happy whilst in the casino high-rolling. It's completely true that gambling is very dangerous in that manner, and the effects of gambling addiction strike not only the gambler, but his loved ones as well. There is merit in the argument that gambling should not be open and free - hell, maybe having heavily regulated casinos is actually a better option.

I'm curious as to what you guys think. Do you believe gambling should be open and free to all, and that we should be able to choose where and how to risk our money? Or, do you believe there should be regulations imposed on gamblers and gambling institutions for their own safety, and for the safety of their families?

[alisafidel58]

Right now, the brick-and-mortar gambling world is heavily regulated. Monetary inflows and outflows are monitored, people are not let in without rigorous identity checks, expensive licenses need to be obtained from the government in order for a casino to set up shop, and so on. Clearly, the government is trying to control the world of gambling. It's their belief that we, as humans, are not able to decide for ourselves, and that our choices may have negative impacts that we did not forsee.

You can enter any casino as you wish but you cant enter their VIP section (obviously they will need to check your identity). The government is not controlling the casino, they are regulating it.

I'm curious as to what you guys think. Do you believe gambling should be open and free to all, and that we should be able to choose where and how to risk our money? Or, do you believe there should be regulations imposed on gamblers and gambling institutions for their own safety, and for the safety of their families?

Gambling is free to all but certainly, there should be regulations so that minors can't gamble or try to gamble. Gambling addict should be carefully watched and monitored by casino official.

[nakamura12]

Gambling is open to all especially those who really want to gamble whether you're an adult or a minor. Let's discuss about the minors that are caught gambling in any ways will face a consequences like receiving a criminal charge and if I remember correctly it will be added to his/her criminal record or the minor's parents can be charge with an offense too if they allow their children to gambling when they are still minors or still under tha age of 21 which is the required age to gamble. I don't find any situation where there's a minor caught gambling in crypto related gambling sites.

[leonair]

Right now, the brick-and-mortar gambling world is heavily regulated. Monetary inflows and outflows are monitored, people are not let in without rigorous identity checks, expensive licenses need to be obtained from the government in order for a casino to set up shop, and so on. Clearly, the government is trying to control the world of gambling. It's their belief that we, as humans, are not able to decide for ourselves, and that our choices may have negative impacts that we did not forsee.

That's is your perspective and I respect that but in my own opinion the Government only wants safety to its citizens and for the betterment of their country so they've set rules and regulation in different parts and gambling is not an exemption as they believe that money laundering would be abundant there. For as long the good overcomes the bad aspect of controlling our freedom then I'm fine with it because everything that's too much is bad.

[maydna]

I only think that gambling has to be open and free for all and we need to know the risk of playing gambling. So far, if we gamble with fiat, there will be regulations for gamblers and the gambling house, and they need to obey the rule if they don't want to get trouble.

Not all gamblers can know the safety of their families while they gambler because in real life, gamblers go to the gambling places and spend the money while their families are at home. But for gamblers who gamble in the online gambling website, they should know how to make sure their families safety especially if it's related to their finances.

[judeafante]

I don't think human should be a free agent, one gambling is addicted you can gamble everything you have and might commit a crime to sustain you're being compulsive gambling, second government is making money on these gambling sites, but at the same time they do not want their people to become addicted to gambling.

[MakeMoneyBtc]

I'm curious as to what you guys think. Do you believe gambling should be open and free to all, and that we should be able to choose where and how to risk our money? Or, do you believe there should be regulations imposed on gamblers and gambling institutions for their own safety, and for the safety of their families?

Isn't gambling already open and free to all? As long as you are an adult and respect all the rules any casino will allow to play freely any game you want because it's your money. Of course there have to be some certain rules imposed to gamblers because you can't just do whatever you want.

[Ellen Adarna]

I think gambling should not be really be free for all people because if it is free minors could also gamble and they could get a mental disorder in a early age. Minors could also lose all of their savings if they gamble because most minors are risk takers, that is why gambling should be restricted for minors or should have an age required, especially for online gambling site because you cannot say if a minor is playing. I also think that gambling is already free for people because old people could go inside in a casino whenever they wanted to play.

[XCANA]

For human to be free agents in the gambling world will increase gamblers addiction than what is currently on ground. Regulations from gambling platforms and governments are not enough to prevent gambling addiction, so, making humans free agents will create more havoc in the society. Humans should be regulated than make them free agents in the world of gambling.

[noormcs5]

I don't think human should be a free agent, one gambling is addicted you can gamble everything you have and might commit a crime to sustain you're being compulsive gambling, second government is making money on these gambling sites, but at the same time they do not want their people to become addicted to gambling.

The problem here is that the gambler, the gambling site and the government, have different motives and Interest.  Gambler want to earn money from gambling and if he is addicted to gambling, this will be bad for the gambler but good for the gambling site as they will get more money and revenue.
Government want to control the gambling sites so that they can monitor the revenue and get taxes from them. To avoid taxes, gambling sites do not want them to be regulated.

In short, no one has similar interest and therefore it will be not easy to regulate gambling.

[Ellen Adarna]

I think gambling should not be really be free for all people because if it is free minors could also gamble and they could get a mental disorder in a early age. Minors could also lose all of their savings if they gamble because most minors are risk takers, that is why gambling should be restricted for minors or should have an age required, especially for online gambling site because you cannot say if a minor is playing. I also think that gambling is already free for people because old people could go inside in a casino whenever they wanted to play.

I agree that gambling should not be free because minors should not play in an early age. If ever they get addicted to it they could lose all of their money and their parents would be mad to them.

Yes. Addiction is also a bad effect of gambling if minors will start to play in gambling.

[hulla]

As said by bustabit people that deserve credit worth to be credited but I don't see gambling as something that affect human mentally if the person know what he was doing.
Concern the gambling site which ask for IDs, every gambling site wont be anonymous just like we have some centralized exchanges site we also have some sort of centralized gambling site either but gambler that are comfortable with giving their ID should play where IDs are not ask no matter how huge they win.

[rizkyhiw]

I think gambling should not be really be free for all people because if it is free minors could also gamble and they could get a mental disorder in a early age. Minors could also lose all of their savings if they gamble because most minors are risk takers, that is why gambling should be restricted for minors or should have an age required, especially for online gambling site because you cannot say if a minor is playing. I also think that gambling is already free for people because old people could go inside in a casino whenever they wanted to play.

I agree that gambling should not be free because minors should not play in an early age. If ever they get addicted to it they could lose all of their money and their parents would be mad to them.

Yes. Addiction is also a bad effect of gambling if minors will start to play in gambling.

Free or not, gambling is not very important to me for those who are underage because whoever manages gambling also calculates the appropriate age limit for playing and children have education that makes them not do something that is not good at their age then they Understanding yourself because of the abundance of education from parents and teachers in their schools, many small examples of games that can be done for free, do they pay attention? I think this is no longer a secret.

[suzanne5223]

I dont support or believe gambling should be open and free to everyone but gamblers are free to choose how and where to risk their money. However, we definitely need a rules,regulations and institutions which will be in charge of the safety of gamblers and the house either because of people that usually abuse the benefit of something

[swogerino]

In this world anything is free and everyone is free to try gambling as any other activity which is not considered illegal.

However this does not guarantee that you will not become a prisoner of gambling addiction, everyone is free to join the gambling world but not everyone is guaranteed safety here.

There are some good regulations like KYC which can make sure no underaged persons can become part of that casino but this is irrelevant in crypto area.Gambling responsibly is also another good rule to keep you safe from addiction but more can be done.

[sheenshane]

I do understand and respect your opinion but in my opinion, humans are naturally bad without those things we call rules and regulations.
We were created to do all the things we are capable of. During the first era of humanity, rules and regulations were not existing and the results were bad. We are a natural survivor and that is why we need to do anything to survive. In gambling, regulations must be applied to let people enjoy their lives by not destroying it with the worst addiction in gambling.

[reda]

Rules and freedom are two different path which we can discuss it more in brief. I always love to follow good rules which will not interfere the human rights any places.
That is how we need to consider the freedom in gambling industry as well.

[Ranly123]

Obviously, when you think of freedom, it usually comes with a positive connotation in the mind. Freedom is the lack of restrictions, and being able to do what you are economically incentivized to do.

Right now, the brick-and-mortar gambling world is heavily regulated. Monetary inflows and outflows are monitored, people are not let in without rigorous identity checks, expensive licenses need to be obtained from the government in order for a casino to set up shop, and so on. Clearly, the government is trying to control the world of gambling. It's their belief that we, as humans, are not able to decide for ourselves, and that our choices may have negative impacts that we did not forsee.

On one hand, this comes off as rather patronizing. It's our money and our life, and we should be able to do with it what we please. The manifestation of this idea is the realm of anonymous cryptocurrency gambling, where anybody can make an account, deposit bitcoins, and start gambling. There are usually no identity checks, no location checks, no age checks, or anything of that nature whatsoever. This is the worldview that devans, the owner of bustabit holds - he believes that we should give humans credit where credit is due. We are the smartest, most evolved organism on the planet, and we should be allowed to do what we want with our own money. We don't need a father figure in the form of the government to tell us what we can and can't do with our own funds. The financial freedom that bitcoin itself signifies is also signified by the existence of such anonymous, unregulated gambling institutions. Nobody is forcing anyone to gamble - it's all a matter of responsible choice.

However, on the other hand, gambling is not an activity that is as impactless as riding a bike or watching a movie. Gambling can have serious and profound effects on people. Their brains, their lives, their families. Gambling is addictive, and especially for children, it can cause a permanent change in one's brain chemistry. The way we process dopamine is changed dramatically once gambling comes into play: the baseline dopamine level rises higher and higher, until gamblers no longer find pleasure in normal things, and can only be happy whilst in the casino high-rolling. It's completely true that gambling is very dangerous in that manner, and the effects of gambling addiction strike not only the gambler, but his loved ones as well. There is merit in the argument that gambling should not be open and free - hell, maybe having heavily regulated casinos is actually a better option.

I'm curious as to what you guys think. Do you believe gambling should be open and free to all, and that we should be able to choose where and how to risk our money? Or, do you believe there should be regulations imposed on gamblers and gambling institutions for their own safety, and for the safety of their families?

Online gambling is already free for all and everyone is invited to do gambling online. Now, having rules and restrictions to a gambling sites is a measure of security that everyone who joined in their site has the capacity to pay and play in their games. What I mean is, those people with less assets can play but they should be wary about the consequences that they might lose it all.

[legendster]

However, on the other hand, gambling is not an activity that is as impactless as riding a bike or watching a movie. Gambling can have serious and profound effects on people.

Really? More profound than dying from an accident or being shot by some lunatic? Things that regularly happen these days with riding a bike or going to a movie.

I'm curious as to what you guys think. Do you believe gambling should be open and free to all, and that we should be able to choose where and how to risk our money? Or, do you believe there should be regulations imposed on gamblers and gambling institutions for their own safety, and for the safety of their families?

Chances of you winning in gambling is the same as getting shot during a movie or a prayer (newzealand mosque incident).

With that said,

There should be a level of checks that go into the gambling economy - not to check what each individual spends, but rather to ensure that the gambling platforms and casinos are fair!
No matter which part of the world you go to, this has been the typical protectionist policies and attitude that most governments have towards this industry.

Addition of blockchain technology to the gambling industry only helps to make it more transparent - a rigorous checking system for IDs for gamblers will work towards their benefit rather than something else..

[pixie85]

I'm a supporter of free markets and free societies. There should be no gambling restrictions as there should be no restrictions imposed on narcotics alcohol and other things. We shouldn't try to control people but rather let them choose their own path and if that path leads to ruin so be it. You can never protect a person from everything so why even bother?