Although there are many problems that come along with gambling, internet gambling should be legalized, but the age of casino gambling should remain at 21. Gambling is playing a game for money or some type of bet. Gambling can lead to addictions, bankruptcy, crime, and suicide. No matter how many laws can be made against gambling, people will do it illegally anyway. There are many ways of gambling, primarily through card games or slot machines. Gambling is not illegal if you are in a casino, and if you are 21 years of age or older. However it is illegal to gamble over the internet. Consequently, we are left with the simple question: why?
In casinos, you’re generally playing against the “house.” The house is the casino’s owners or company. Online, you are playing against the people, which is better because everything would be fair. Internet gambling was legalized in the UK and in Europe, and there hasn’t been a remarkable increase in the number of problem gamblers. Europe’s online gambling has become so large that it makes up a great amount of the industry’s yearly revenue, 12.5 billion of 29.3 billion (Pfanner 4). This could fix America’s economy. There are many gambling websites, but none of them are legally registered. There are apps on smart phones, such as Live Holdem Pro, where you can play the games against people, but not bet real money. Websites in Europe have made its way to America and many Americans do gamble online, so why not make it legal if it’s already happening?
The reason why the gambling age should not be dropped to 18 is because this would bring about more problems with gambling. Most 18 year olds do not have a steady income, and according to Jarrett Murphy’s Poverty Numbers Steady, Income dips, there was a 2.2 percent decrease in the insurance of them. Consequently, this would probably mean betting money that they most likely can’t afford to lose. There are people who think it should be lowered to 18 because there are many college students who are smart enough to strategize in games such as poker, and need to pay back college loans. These people argue that they already have the right to do what they want with their money, and most already bet in horse races or on sports games. They already buy lottery tickets, which is a way of gambling. Nevertheless, gambling could change these teenagers’ lifestyles. If 18 year olds are able to gamble in a casino, they will be surrounded with alcohol and other forms of ways to counter their thoughts while playing one of these games.
Additionally, if the age is dropped to 18 there would also be more crime. If college students were playing to pay back loans, they might start playing against the rules. In the game of blackjack, there is a system called counting cards. Blackjack is played with either 4 or 6 decks of cards. Knowing this, you are able to count the cards coming out of the pack. This would make you able to know what cards may be coming next, therefore win the hand. However this is not something people do regularly, because if they are caught counting cards they will be asked to leave the casino (if they’re lucky), and be severely punished. To prevent more crime and to save some lives, the gambling age should remain at 21.
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