The problem is this: the house always wins. Casinos, online sports books, the lottery, all of it is designed such that all but quite literally a lucky few will lose money. If you understand this properly, then, yes, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it being a form of entertainment, but that means you need to go in thinking about cost per hour instead of any notion of leaving with more than you began with.
This is why I have a huge problem with the recent development of online gambling outlets that you can access via your smartphone. In the past you had to go somewhere to gamble, it was a physical act that provided a barrier to entry. Now? You don't even need to think about it, your bank account is already linked, just spend away!
Personally, I'd rather states loosen laws and allow physical casinos be built and properly regulated than be in the current situation we have with these poorly regulated online money-siphons.
The house does not always win in online sports books. I personally know some quant minded people that have been banned or backed off from a dozen or more online sports books because they are crushed by any nontrivial understanding of price/probability and arbitrage. They do make a lot of money from people who bet for fun or based on their perceived knowledge of the particular sport.
You just explainer why the house always wins. If they don’t, they will stop taking your bets.
> I personally know some quant minded people that have been banned or backed off from a dozen or more online sports books
That's the house making sure that the house are always the winner.
Good video on this:
https://youtu.be/XZvXWVztJoY?si=to8qYcXuBT2xAaIz
Gambling online would be a lot less destructive if you had to buy a monthly subscription in advance and when you lose that money you are just done.