MLM Directory

why is online gambling illegal, but playing the stock market is legal?

isn't playing stocks gambling too? yea your answer not being related to the question shows your ignorance. online poker isn't all about random chance. there are more skilled players than others. this is for online only, not the physicality aspect of gambling. this isn't about outlawing the stock market. of course gambling is still legal outside of online. if you were to put money into something hoping to get a positive return, that is taking a risk and gambling, regardless if there is anything of value you get with your initial investment. you can't just stereotype,and say the total sum return will never exceed the initial sum for all gamblers. And not all online gambling games are a game of chance, despite what the law reads.

Public Comments

1. Your comparison shows your ignorance
2. It's all about taxes. The feds would have a hard time taxing your winnings from an online casino.
3. Because the government knows how to get their share from the stock market. They find it difficult to get it from on line gambling. Simple.
4. no, investing in a company, with assets, employees, and products, in the hopes that revenues will cover expenses and earn a profit in the long term is not gambling. evaluating risk and benefit is not the same as random chance.
5. No. The law considers games of chance to be gambling. They do not lend this definition to games of skill. IE California classified poker as a game of skill in order to legalize the many card rooms. The stock market is not a game of chance. Although it is obvious that chance is involved, this is the case for all things in life. Another question could be why is the lottery legal.
6. Not really. When a person purchases stocks he is investing in or purchasing a part of something of value. (giving valule for value) When you participate in gambling you are only purchasing a chance at something of value. There is a big difference even if the stock purchase is done for speculative reasons. Imagine you buy an antique automobile. You are giving value (money) for value ( the automobile). You may be able to sell it for more money someday or you may not. Either way you have something of some value. If the car is destroyed and not insured you loose most or all of your money. That is how the stock market works. If you buy a ticket in a raffle for a car all you are really getting is a chance not anything of real value. Only one of several thousand tickets has the possibility of ever being worth anything.
7. Online gambling is a zero sum game.The total returns can never exceed the sum of initial investments (by all betters) Stocks are different in the sense, wealth is actually generated and redistributed according to individual investment. The stock market is analogous to a piece of land. If U sow some seeds U can reap the resulting crop. The crop yield might be good or bad based on weather conditions etc. If there's a case for banning the Stock Market, then farming should be made illegal too.