[apta]

> Sports betting is illegal in my state, yet the poker games at my local casino...

So gambling is still allowed in your state. I'm saying to ban it completely so the entire market is closed.

It won't be too difficult to crack down on private gambling sites as well. The issue in the US is that each state has its own laws, so this won't work unless there is a ban at the federal level.

> Legalized gambling doesn’t just save lives by keeping it out of organized crime control, it makes it far less costly for participants, and making its negative impacts on society much lower.

I don't agree. There are countries where gambling is banned, and they don't have a gambling or crime problem.

[valuearb]

You ignore what I said and ignore reality. I gave real examples of two real gambling markets, one legal and illegal, that demonstrated how much worse the effects of the illegal market were.

Instead you claim countries have successfully banned gambling completely. OK name one so we can correct your misapprehension.

For example Sports betting has been illegal almost everywhere in the US for a long time. Illegal sports gambling has peaked near $150B a year.

[apta]

Gambling is banned in Saudi Arabia.

[valuearb]

Yet people still gamble in Saudi Arabia like crazy.

What’s next, you gonna want to ban gravity cause your feet are sore?

[icebraining]

> There are countries where gambling is banned, and they don't have a gambling or crime problem.

Like which? The only democracy I see that (almost) fully banned gambling seems to be Israel, and their underground gambling industry is estimated at $3.5 billion.

[apta]

The world is more than just "democratic" nations (which, are also usually "democratic" by name, but are actually something else).