What makes something gambling?

One of the fundamental principals of the legal system is equality. Yet some state this foundational thought isn’t being applied to the internet. In an Associated Press article, “Poker Players Fight Online Gambling Ban”, poker players say the law restricting online gaming is unfair. They point out fantasy sports, horse races, and state lotteries are allowed on the web. I found this extraordinary interesting. I never thought about how these activities are a form of gambling. After some thought, I firmly believe they are.

In my book, gambling is any activity where there is risk and the potential to make money for leisure purposes. All of the above mentioned groups I would undoubtedly consider gambling. It is unbelievable to me that they are legal on the web. One of the reasons why gambling is allegedly illegal is because internet gambling can become an addiction and drain people’s savings. The same thing can happen in any other these other activities. After pondering the issue, I can not think of any solid reason of why this might be.

Perhaps when legislators were debating the issue, brick-and-mortar casinos fought and lobbied hard to have legislators shut down gaming sites (to obviously protect their services). On the other hand, these other gambling activities might have fallen under the radar for different reasons. Since the popularity of fantasy sports exploded since the creation of the internet, there really was no developed industry that had vested interest in fantasy players’ money. Therefore, no one lobbied hard to make it illegal. Also people with financial interests in horse races might have thought online betting would only bring in more revenue. Further, the Federal government is likely not to ban the fundraising ability of the states, so that could be why lotteries are still legal. These are just my opinions. Some people might even call them conspiracy theories.

Whatever the logic was in creating the laws, a double standard exists. Certain gambling activities are illegal, why some perfectly fine. I believe that the government in the interest of fairness should act one way or another. Either make all gambling illegal, or let the virtual dice roll.