I’ve written about gambling before. It’s bad enough that the gambling industry is out to get you. We’d expect that. But when the government sponsors it…

Here is Elliot Eisenberg, the economist who writes a daily 70-word blog:

On 4/3/24, a drawing for a $1.09 billion Powerball jackpot will occur, the fifth largest. While the chances of winning are one in 292 million, Americans spent over $100 billion in 2022 buying lotto tickets and it’s mostly the poor. In the poorest 1% of zip codes, the average adult spends about $600/year or 5% of income, versus $150/year or 0.15% of income in the wealthiest 1%. Talk about regressive. – Elliot Eisenberg, “Lousy Lotteries”

Unconscionable! The poor spend 5% of their income on lotto tickets versus 0.15% of income for the rich.

And it’s not getting any better in sports either. Last year I wrote about a Denver Broncos football player suspended for gambling outside of “NFL Policy.” Now the NBA has banned (not suspended) a player for gambling violations, specifically limiting his own performance to reward those who took “under” in one of the many “prop bets” that are being played these days. What’s worse, look at the CNN headline:

Do you see it? “gaming rules” not “gambling rules.” Interestingly, if you go to the article itself, they do say “gambling.” My favorite Wall Street Journal sports columnist, Jason Gay, picked up on this story with his usual wisdom.

There is no safe level. A friend of mine became a compulsive gambler playing penny poker in the Marines. He finally quit, decades later, when he met Jesus, coming off of a 3-day drunk having dropped $50,000 on the Super Bowl. “I never took another drink. I never laid down another bet.”

By the way, you know something is a trend when it hits the comics. Pearls Before Swine, April 18, 2024, has this exchange:

• Goat: Am I the only one worried about the fact that so many states have now legalized online sports betting?
• Rat: Yes. It’s fun. So get with the times you oversensitive ninny.
• Rat (looking at his phone): Oops. Just lost the house.
• Rat: My opinion on this subject is changing.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14.12, ESV)

Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. (Proverbs 24.11, ESV)

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 1 Timothy 6.9 – 10, ESV)