**The business model that casinos use has been criticised for creating and subsequently profiting off of vulnerable people’s addictions. However, it has also been suggested that casinos are a less problematic way to gamble compared to other mediums.** • Gambling can be described as the [staking of money](https://opinionfront.com/reasons-why-gambling-should-be-illegal) in the view of gaining more. Since casinos are venues which facilitate gambling, they remain quite controversial. • [Various groups](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/12/losing-it-all/505814/) have called for the banning of casinos because their business model is intentionally designed to turn their customers into addicts and prey on their vulnerability. For example, casinos have incorporated tactics such as loyalty cards which track personal gambling data, ATMs which allow gamblers to withdraw cash from both debit and credit cards, and game machines which are designed to create the perception of a greater chance of payoff. This has led to addicts falling into debt and turning to crime to fund their addictions. More sinisterly, it is estimated that approximately one in five gambling addicts attempt suicide after suffering from the negative consequences of their addiction. • However, some people have argued that casinos are less of a threat to gamblers’ wellbeing compared to [online gambling](https://www.gamblingnews.com/blog/why-online-gambling-is-more-dangerous-than-casino-gambling/), which is a rapidly growing sector. Moreover, one could argue that banning casinos would just move gamblers to the black market, which may pose more danger to them in terms of crime and overcoming the stigma to get help.

**Casinos are unethical** • Many argue that casinos should be banned, as they take advantage of people with gambling addictions and other mental health disorders, such as [Obsessive Compulsive Disorder](https://news.yale.edu/2015/02/11/gambling-and-obsessive-compulsive-behaviors-linked), that can lead to problem gambling. Many believe that casinos are unethical because they profit off of vulnerable people with [gambling addictions](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/sep/18/paul-merson-gambling-is-a-horrible-addiction-your-career-passes-you-by), which are extremely harmful and difficult to overcome. • In the USA, many [states are partially funded by casinos and gambling revenue](https://rockinst.org/blog/state-sponsored-gambling-promise-revenue-questions-policymakers/). The Rockefeller Institute of Government has exposed that in recent years, 10 states have amassed more than $1 billion a year in this way. [David Brunori](https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxanalysts/2016/04/28/regressive-addictive-and-immoral-whats-not-to-like-about-gambling/?sh=3bb9e1ee54a3) criticises this mode of state-funding as he argues that it preys on the vulnerable and disadvantaged: “gambling is regressive – poor people gamble more than rich people”. • Some people believe that gambling and casinos are immoral, for both religious and ethical reasons. Whilst gambling is not explicitly condemned in the Bible, many Christians consider gambling to be immoral because the [love of money](https://www.christian.org.uk/who-we-are/what-we-believe/gambling-is-wrong/) is portrayed as sinful.