Expected reading time 4 minutes
Last Updated: July 18, 2025
Written by Jon Bryan
Jon Bryan offers his reflections on a recent conference where he spoke about gambling.
LIVING FREEDOM
Last month I spoke at Living Freedom, a conference for those aged between 18 and 30 who are interested in free speech, freedom, and ideas in general. I was asked to talk about my ‘Letter on Liberty’, which I wrote in 2022: Risking It All: The Freedom to Gamble.
One of the themes I addressed was the significant number of politicians, campaigners and commentators who complain about “the normalisation of gambling”. I mention this in Risking It All and describe gambling as a normal everyday activity that millions of us enjoy on a regular basis. In the closing remarks of my talk at Living Freedom, I made a very general comment that: “There’s nothing wrong with gambling”. This was my simple summary to make the point about gambling: it is not unusual, abnormal, or particularly special or different.
In the discussion and questions that followed, someone picked up on that comment and referred to some of the problems that can occur because of gambling. They said that the blunt statement I had made lacked nuance, and they asked me whether I would stand by those five words. I said that I did, but since then I have wondered whether I was right to do so.
In short, I still think I am right to stand by that statement – “There’s nothing wrong with gambling”.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
The arguments against me seem to be varied, but would include that gambling can cause harm, can lead to significant financial losses, it can give false hope, and that it can lead to addictive behaviour. Stating that there is nothing wrong with gambling means that you would have to ignore all the negative impacts and associations with an activity which we know can lead to some significant problems. One person in the discussion talked about gambling being a problem for those with a particular religious or moral outlook on life.
“THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH GAMBLING”
The reason I stand by the statement is two-fold. First, I do not consider that there is an automatic and direct link between gambling and problems associated with it. Second, I view gambling as something that people engage in as a pastime, which will cost them money, which is not that dissimilar from other pastimes.
It is my view that those who gamble will generally get enjoyment from it, with the possibility of winning some money back. Gamblers generally lose, which is one of the costs associated with it, but that expectation is largely there from the start, from all who take a chance and have a gamble.
As I have said, in essence, gambling is a transaction, like so many others, but it is one where the rewards can be enjoyment and/or winning. Like most gamblers, I am not naïve to think that winning is probable or quite likely. However, it is possible, which is what gives it an attractive quality.
Wikipedia defines gambling as:
“The wagering of something of value…on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted.”
I have also seen this referred to as betting or gaming. Some differentiate between gambling where there is some skill involved, which might be sports betting or a game such as poker, and other types of gambling like the lottery, where the chances of winning are very slim, and luck is 100% the deciding factor as to whether you will come out on top.
Yes, there can be gambling which you could describe as harmful, or you could perhaps describe gambling behaviour which would be seen as problematic, for example, when losses are being continually chased. But none of that means that there is anything wrong with gambling, per se. At least, that’s what I think.
TAKING A DIFFERENT APPROACH
You can take a different approach to me when it comes to gambling. You can consider that it is not something that you want to do, which could be for reasons of faith, morality, concerns about addictive behaviour, or several other reasons.
I don’t have an issue with someone who chooses not to gamble or has never gambled in their life. But, as I said at the conference, you should be taking a view on the over-regulation of gambling which we see today and are likely to see more of in the very near future. I believe that the legislation that we have about gambling sets worrying precedents for all of us, whether we gamble or not.
And so, I return to my basic premise that there is nothing wrong with gambling, a view that I will hold until I am convinced otherwise.
However, I remain open to being persuaded. Feel free to tell me what you think.
Jon Bryan is a Gambling Writer and Poker Player. His pamphlet “Risking It All: The freedom to gamble” is available to purchase or free to download. Find more of Jon’s articles for SlotsHawk.
