[Triple_D_Bet]

Originally posted on 08/13/2014:

Gambling addiction is similar to drug addiction. He's somewhat right.

Addiction is addiction, but he goes way beyond the bounds of reason. How difficult a person finds restraining themselves to be will vary, but at no point on the spectrum is it not their responsibility, and at no time is it the fault of the people/companies offering the service/product a person is addicted to. If Pokerstars forcibly transfers a gambling addict's paycheck to a poker account, maybe there's an argument there...but general advertising, promotions, or the existence of the service isn't something they should be held liable for just because some people can't control themselves. Comparing it to the previously deceptive cigarette marketing (where they knew it was harmful to everyone and presented it as harmless) is a gross misrepresentation.

Similarly, his contempt for individual achievements strikes me as not only hypocritical in an individual competition like poker, but just dumb. Celebrations of individual achievements isn't harmful or contributing to any "power structure"; it's recognition that someone has achieved something impressive, either relatively or absolutely, and can be a big part of giving people goals, confidence, etc. To claim they should rarely be celebrated is to be ignorant of basic mechanics of how people work. Blaming it for distracting people from more important issues is also foolish; are youtube cat videos, fail videos, music videos, etc. also something that should be rarely seen according to him, for fear of "distracting" us with the entertainment?