[ajross]

> opening a door to further normalization and mainstream acceptance of gambling

Meh. I don't know that that's resolvable. The fundamental desire for this in the market is real, the job of regulation is just to keep a lid on the worst excesses. Given the choice between a very large regulated market for a good and a somewhat smaller but completely unregulated black market for the same good, most people would prefer the former even if there are sharp edges.

[pessimizer]

Big-business gambling is no less damaging (or no less "excessive") than small-business gambling. The real difference between big and small is whether the people pocketing the profits tithe a portion of them to political campaigns or not.

[ajross]

Unregulated black markets breed auxiliary crime, they always do.

If you don't have the option to sue people to get back money you're owed, you're forced to resort to less savory options. And on the other side of the incentives calculus, people who defraud and steal from regulated businesses and their customers tend to go to jail. Rip off a fellow criminal and most of the time no one cares.

The solution is legalization and regulation, and to the extent society can't bring itself to do that, it's tantamount to declaring its willingness to tolerate the black market replacement.