Does Banning Online Gambling Protect People or Push Them to Unregulated Casinos?

[Maslate]

Unlike regulated platforms, some of these casinos don’t have any strong authority that players can report their complaints too.  But on the other hand I understand why some government restricts online gambling, especially because of  underage gambling, gambling addiction, and the financial problems of some families.

Unregulated casinos with a good reputation, I would rather choose them over local casinos where the regulations are very strict. I believe even if gambling is legal in a country there are still many gamblers who prefer to gamble at unregulated casinos so it's like a common thing.

Now if gambling is totally banned, that depends on the punishment, if gamblers are treated as victims then they will find a way to continue gambling but if they could face jail time, that could discourage many of them from gambling as it's not worth the risk.

[uchegod-21]

My question is this. Rather than banning online gambling totally, would it be better for government to regulate it properly, protect players and punish casinos that failed to follow the rules? Or do you guys think the best thing is to ban gambling totally to protect citizens from harm?

Banning of online gambling does not solve any of the problems, instead it does two things which are: make government lose revenue thet would have gotten from them if they were regulated and push their people to unregulated and sometimes scam platforms. I have never supported banning of online gambling because I'm a strong believer of freedom, so people should be free to chose how to do their business and live their lives. If government put efforts at regulating gambling in general, it will benefit everybody instead of banning gamnling completely.

No, i do not agree that banning gambling does not solve any problem, it does but the result may not be seen immediately.

One significant thing that we all will notice once gambling is banned is that, all forms of gambling promotions and ads will also be banned, what this means is that many people will no long be exposed to gambling like it use to be when gambling is legal. Some people gamble because of exposure. Once gambling is banned, in the long run, the number of active gamblers will reduce gambling promotions and ads will no longer be thrown to their faces.

I understand that many will argue that gamblers will turn to gambling illegally if gambling is banned, that is true for some gamblers, not all. The most important thing is that the number of active gamblers will reduce.

[Miles2006]

Both options concerning gambling ban and regulation can be really helpful, banning online casino is not the actual issue because despite regulations, gamblers residing in countries where online gambling is prohibited continue to seek alternative methods to bet without any restriction. Gamblers looking for a different option whereby they try to avoid the government sometimes end up losing their funds as op mentioned, I would support the regulation but can the government regulate online gambling totally? Gambling regulation is mainly carried out by the casino while the government gives a strict rule I doubt if regulating online gambling will help gamblers from irresponsible gambling.

[Yorubek]

Look, the government can completely declare gambling illegal and take strict measures, but it will not completely destroy or control gambling, gamblers will continue to gamble using any strategy they like. Those who are operating illegal gambling will be able to do whatever they want, which will cause gamblers to suffer even more financially because the gambling operators will not have to answer to anyone. In my opinion, instead of completely forbidden online gambling, the government can increase its surveillance so that illegal casinos can be controlled and provide more protection to gamblers.

[mak013]

I believe that banning online gambling doesn’t mean that people must stop gambling. Most people will definitely find another way to gamble, most  especially when they can access unregulated casino that doesn’t have a proper license or follow the gambling laws in their country. The problem is that when people are gambling in unregulated casino, it may become difficult to get help if the platform refuses to pay winnings, disappear with their money or close someone account without adequate explanation.

Unlike regulated platforms, some of these casinos don’t have any strong authority that players can report their complaints too.  But on the other hand I understand why some government restricts online gambling, especially because of  underage gambling, gambling addiction, and the financial problems of some families.

My question is this. Rather than banning online gambling totally, would it be better for government to regulate it properly, protect players and punish casinos that failed to follow the rules? Or do you guys think the best thing is to ban gambling totally to protect citizens from harm?

I can protect myself on my own, I don't need the government to protect me. When I play at casinos I'm not familiar with, I place fairly small bets and always withdraw my money. As a result, I'll lose one or two bets. I don't see a problem with that, and I don't need government restrictions to protect my two bets. But I understand that banning is what the government does best.

For me, the best approach is to leave gambling as it is. But in reality, anything the government can't control will be banned (as far as they can manage), and anything they can control will be restricted.

[Supreme Donvic]

My question is this. Rather than banning online gambling totally, would it be better for government to regulate it properly, protect players and punish casinos that failed to follow the rules? Or do you guys think the best thing is to ban gambling totally to protect citizens from harm?

Banning gambling totally from a country is not the right thing for government to do, the best is for them to regulate gambling, if they can regulate gambling they will be able to know the citizens that are gambling and how they are acting, and it will give the citizens a sense of freedom.
What makes some citizens angry are the fact that they are being controlled and don't have the right to do whatever they want especially things that makes them happy, we know the damages that gambling can cause but if been used the right way is very good and full of fun.

[sompitonov]

Banning gambling totally from a country is not the right thing for government to do, the best is for them to regulate gambling, if they can regulate gambling they will be able to know the citizens that are gambling and how they are acting, and it will give the citizens a sense of freedom.
What makes some citizens angry are the fact that they are being controlled and don't have the right to do whatever they want especially things that makes them happy, we know the damages that gambling can cause but if been used the right way is very good and full of fun.

I believe the best approach to regulation at the moment would be to take all the experience gained globally and analyze it thoroughly specifically, to examine the behavior of players who are dependent or young, and to consider whether this might have a significant long-term impact on their lives. While finding a perfect balance may be impossible, we can certainly strive toward it. It might be worth exploring the use of AI for analysis, or bringing in independent experts to provide advice and recommendations.

[JoyceBTC]

I believe that banning online gambling doesn’t mean that people must stop gambling. Most people will definitely find another way to gamble, most  especially when they can access unregulated casino that doesn’t have a proper license or follow the gambling laws in their country. The problem is that when people are gambling in unregulated casino, it may become difficult to get help if the platform refuses to pay winnings, disappear with their money or close someone account without adequate explanation.

Unlike regulated platforms, some of these casinos don’t have any strong authority that players can report their complaints too.  But on the other hand I understand why some government restricts online gambling, especially because of  underage gambling, gambling addiction, and the financial problems of some families.

My question is this. Rather than banning online gambling totally, would it be better for government to regulate it properly, protect players and punish casinos that failed to follow the rules? Or do you guys think the best thing is to ban gambling totally to protect citizens from harm?

I can protect myself on my own, I don't need the government to protect me. When I play at casinos I'm not familiar with, I place fairly small bets and always withdraw my money. As a result, I'll lose one or two bets. I don't see a problem with that, and I don't need government restrictions to protect my two bets. But I understand that banning is what the government does best.

For me, the best approach is to leave gambling as it is. But in reality, anything the government can't control will be banned (as far as they can manage), and anything they can control will be restricted.

Yes you can protect yourself on your own but how about others or even underage who engage in gambling. If the government wants to regulate gambling it will also be a good thing and the reason for doing that will be to avoid the harm it cause to humans, even when regulated and still in existence, not everyone will still keep to its regulations but it harm will be on a lower rate. Secondly it can’t just be totally erased depending on the country, some countries can, which are countries whose religion preaches against it while some countries cannot because of the revenues.
Gambling has good sides also but people don’t get to talk about it good sides, just the bad side and its effects on us because of how very much involved we are into it.

[cryptoaddictchie]

My question is this. Rather than banning online gambling totally, would it be better for government to regulate it properly, protect players and punish casinos that failed to follow the rules? Or do you guys think the best thing is to ban gambling totally to protect citizens from harm?

I think we can relate to this, as our Government restrict online casinos that arent scope of their regulated casinos and that includes crypto casinos. Some sites or known crypto gambling are restricted or we cant access and the page directed us to the list of only allowed casinos that they are regulating.

If they gonna ask me if this good, yes cause it helps them protect from potential scammers. However as a user who into crypto and got experience I believed more in the reputations of the casinos we have here than some casinos they regulated which some denying users complain about the prizes of the winners. which makes me think more of it as way to divert or attract more gamblers to their side

[ArabBTC]

To me, it is better for any wise government to regulate online gambling casino activities rather than completely banning them, the truth is the world itself is gambling, it is filled with lots of uncertainties, no matter how hard a government tries they can’t stop gambling completely, one way or the other people will definitely resort to gambling and that is actually more dangerous because they might be gambling in an illegal way, illegal platform or in an illegal location.

When any government bans gambling activities they are invariably pushing gamblers to find other means to satisfy their gambling urge, some might resort into other social vises, at that point the government won’t even get any revenue, the government will even be spending money to maintain peace and order, trust me once lots of persons don’t have what to distract them like gambling, there will be a lot of civil unrest.

 I normally prefer when gambling is legalized in a country, that way the government can enact rules and regulations that will maintain order and also check mate gamblers, it also paves way too for the government to generate revenue, so to me they should allow online casino gambling.

[danherbias07]

Yeah, regulate it. But only for countries that are open to online gambling. Taxes will be collected, and it could help boost the economy. If they don't do that, they are just giving way to illegal online casinos to take the money of their people, and it's not going to be good when it comes to money movement.
Worse, they are taking away the chance of using the tax money for something better, especially if they really want their people to believe that their own government is doing something despite the regulation of gambling in their country. It's given that gambling still has a negative view among traditional people and those who believe it is bad for a person.

[Alice Bloom]

My question is this. Rather than banning online gambling totally, would it be better for government to regulate it properly, protect players and punish casinos that failed to follow the rules? Or do you guys think the best thing is to ban gambling totally to protect citizens from harm?

A total ban has plenty of downsides, and they've already been named several times here. Besides the lost tax money, there's that funny habit of ours where the more something is forbidden, the more we want it. In the end we just go in circles: bans, workarounds, new bans and more workarounds. Kind of absurd.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

I believe that banning online gambling doesn’t mean that people must stop gambling. Most people will definitely find another way to gamble, most  especially when they can access unregulated casino that doesn’t have a proper license or follow the gambling laws in their country. The problem is that when people are gambling in unregulated casino, it may become difficult to get help if the platform refuses to pay winnings, disappear with their money or close someone account without adequate explanation.

When a country bans gambling completely, then it simply just implies that your country is trying to prevent you from gambling legally. And for those that might want to use VPN to bypasses the country's restiction on gambling sites, that alone is a risk itself, because all the geniune crypto casinos all have its rules regarding the use of VPN on its casino, which is why doing your own research might be very important in scenerios like this, because if the casino finally refuses to pay you your money, then the chances of getting it back will not be possible. Hence, when a country ban casinos, they are only trying to protect its citizen from gambling addiction, but it is the individuals urge for gambling that might push to falling victim to scam.

[viljy]

If a gambler plays in a casino despite a ban imposed by the country’s government, it doesn’t matter which casino they do it in. Their rights are not protected either in an unregulated casino or in a regulated one. This is because almost all casinos have a clause in their TOS that holds the customer responsible for violating the government’s ban. In other words, the casino has the right to refuse service to such a customer at any time. Of course, casinos don’t do this, as they are interested in attracting more customers.

However, one way or another, it turns out that by introducing bans, the government harms citizens by depriving them of legal protection of their rights. If we recall the history of alcohol bans, did they really stop alcohol consumption? - No. For example, Gorbachev’s anti‑alcohol campaign had serious consequences - people were poisoned by substitutes, but alcohol consumption did not decrease; instead, crime rose, vineyards were destroyed, and so on. The same thing is happening here - bans on gambling do not work, they only drive the gambling industry underground.

[Sunshine1525]

Yeah, regulate it. But only for countries that are open to online gambling. Taxes will be collected, and it could help boost the economy. If they don't do that, they are just giving way to illegal online casinos to take the money of their people, and it's not going to be good when it comes to money movement.
Worse, they are taking away the chance of using the tax money for something better, especially if they really want their people to believe that their own government is doing something despite the regulation of gambling in their country. It's given that gambling still has a negative view among traditional people and those who believe it is bad for a person.

I support this cause not regulating it would even cause more harms than good without the government being aware, when they totally ban it, people would definitely switch to other alternatives like going underground to use VPN in unregulated casinos where no help could be rendered when they're scammed by those unregulated casinos or their data sold. So they're not only taking money of the people but their data too.

Which would've been prevented if the government didn't just place bans on regulated online casinos. That's to tell you that sometimes trying to tackle a particular situation doesn't need tough measures but calculative measures that would address it without leading to more harms.

[nara1892]

My question is, if the government regulates gambling, manages it properly, and imposes strict penalties on any casino that fails to follow the rules, will that truly protect gamblers from the  ruin that gambling can cause? I don’t think so , and in my view, what needs to be addressed is the gamblers’ mindset, not the casinos themselves, because the majority of the negative consequences of gambling (especially when gamblers are already addicted) stem from the gamblers’ own behavior specifically, their misunderstanding of and approach to gambling.

This means that regardless of the circumstances, banning gambling is the most appropriate decision the government can make, the government must ensure that no casinos operate within its borders.

[Ishicryptic]

My question is this. Rather than banning online gambling totally, would it be better for government to regulate it properly, protect players and punish casinos that failed to follow the rules? Or do you guys think the best thing is to ban gambling totally to protect citizens from harm?

Aside from religious beliefs which will make a country to ban gambling I believe that if other country's dominant religions and lifestyles does not condemn gambling people in such countries should be allowed to gamble if they want. It is better that people in a country don't have the experience about gambling than allowing them to gamble then suddenly you just banned gambling activities, I know that such a ban cannot totally stop online gambling. With the internet gamblers can bypass their government regulations and start to gamble on unregulated casinos, and as long as some gamblers can access these unregulated casinos it would mean that the ban cannot be totally effective. A country who's citizens are used to online gambling instead of a total ban on gambling the government should focus on strict regulations and enforcements Incase of defaulting casinos.

[SuperBitMan]

If only these governments that are fighting casinos or gambling and wanting to ban gambling totally from there country will understand that it is actually impossible to stop people from gambling.
People do not gamble on online casino alone. There are many people that are gambling physically in secretly in every country.
So how will they stop that.

There are still many ways, citizens of a country that ban gambling will still gamble secretly.

The biggest mistake any government will do is to allow something to be done secretly by its citizens.

[hedgeh0g]

If only these governments that are fighting casinos or gambling and wanting to ban gambling totally from there country will understand that it is actually impossible to stop people from gambling.
People do not gamble on online casino alone. There are many people that are gambling physically in secretly in every country.
So how will they stop that.

There are still many ways, citizens of a country that ban gambling will still gamble secretly.

The biggest mistake any government will do is to allow something to be done secretly by its citizens.

Therefore, it is necessary to assemble a group of qualified and intelligent experts who could approach the issue not by banning gaming entirely, but by implementing reasonable restrictions. These measures should be designed so that players do not feel as though they are being prevented from enjoying games a common way to unwind after work. This is a delicate matter, finding an answer may take years, or perhaps no solution will ever be found. After all, many players want to keep playing more and more, even when those around them point out that it is negatively affecting their lives often because the player ends up prioritizing gaming over other important aspects of their life.

[Lucius]

~snip~
My question is this. Rather than banning online gambling totally, would it be better for government to regulate it properly, protect players and punish casinos that failed to follow the rules? Or do you guys think the best thing is to ban gambling totally to protect citizens from harm?

In a perfect world, gambling would be a fun with clearly defined rules that would protect everyone from becoming addicted and gambling away everything they have and more. We are far from that, so I think it is illusory to expect governments to opt for decisions that are correct in relation to those that bring the most profit.

Still, it all depends on the country, in some places these things are better regulated, in others the government clearly doesn't care as long as they make money from taxes. Even if gambling were to become illegal in most of the world, an illegal network of online and physical casinos would be created because people have a need to gamble, it has always been that way and it will be in the future.