Gambling: Value or Vice?
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Is gambling harmless recreation or a destructive vice? If the latter, can government do much to curb it? Is the best option simply to use gambling to raise public revenue?
During a 2020 debate about sports betting, Conservative MP Kevin Waugh noted that Canadians were betting an estimated $14 billion a year on sports events – before it was legal, through the black market and offshore sites. So, Waugh reasoned, government may as well legalize it and use it to raise funds for healthcare, education, or even help for gambling addiction.
Dr. Al Mohler, in a Briefing podcast, warns that when it comes to legalized gambling, “the government that is supposed to serve the people actually becomes the house that always wins.” And when the ‘house’ wins, many others must lose. In Part 1 of this two-part article series, we’ll look at the history of gambling in Canada, a Christian perspective on gambling, and the government’s responsibility. In Part 2, we’ll consider the impact of gambling – particularly online gambling and sports betting – and how Canada’s laws (or lack thereof) address that impact.
History of Gambling in Canada
In 1892, Canada’s original Criminal Code prohibited gambling as one of the “Offenses against Religion, Morals and Public Convenience.” Canada had gambling offences that preceded the Criminal Code as well. Since 1892, the Code has been amended to allow certain forms of gambling, including raffles held for charities, betting on horse races, or games of chance at fairs or exhibitions. In 1969, federal and provincial governments were permitted to conduct lotteries. In 1985, provinces were given exclusive authority to manage lotteries. Following these amendments, provinces began overseeing lotteries and horse racing and generating revenue from such activities. Since that time, and especially since the late 1990s, both casinos and online gambling have been on the rise.
In 2021, the federal government decriminalized single-game sports betting, allowing provinces to regulate sports betting as desired. Before this, sports betting was permitted only on the outcomes of multiple events, such as betting on three different events to occur in the same game. Where provinces have chosen to allow single-game sports betting, Canadians can now bet on the outcome of a single game. Many Canadians could now legally participate in betting for Super Bowl 2025 – that event brought in $1.39 billion USD in wagers. Not only that, but bettors can make a variety of in-game bets, such as who will score the next goal or get the next penalty.
Most provincial gambling has operated under crown corporations. However, in 2022, Ontario became the first province to open the online gambling market to private providers, overseen by iGaming Ontario. Enter the smartphone gambling apps. The Alberta government has also announced its intent to open online gambling to private companies and recently introduced Bill 48 to create a Crown corporation to regulate the gambling market.
A Christian View of Gambling
Gambling was, at one point, viewed as an offense against religion and morals. Today it tends to be seen as a form of recreation or entertainment – provided it does not become an addiction. Of course, gambling is not directly addressed in Scripture. However, there are important principles relevant to the issue.
Lord’s Day 42 of the Heidelberg Catechism, on the 8th commandment, teaches that “God forbids all greed and all abuse or squandering of his gifts” and that “I must promote my neighbour’s good… and work faithfully so that I may be able to give to those in need.”
There are three elements here that apply to gambling. The first element is how we use and view our money. Gambling appears to be an easy means of getting money and reveals a desire to get something for nothing. People generally don’t gamble with the intent of losing money. They want to ‘win big.’ But gambling is also a squandering of our money. Sure, some people win sometimes. But most do not. As noted above, ‘the house always wins.’ And that means the players lose. At the very least, gambling puts one’s money at risk, rather than stewarding it.
Second, even if someone does make money off gambling, it is made at the expense of others, without producing anything of value. Unlike other forms of market exchange, it isn’t mutually beneficial. One only wins when someone else loses. And some of these losers may already be caught in a cycle of addiction and poverty. The Westminster Catechism speaks about promoting our neighbour’s good, seeking to increase others’ wealth, as well as our own, by all just and lawful means. Even if gambling increases one’s own wealth, it does not increase the wealth of others.
Gambling does not just affect the individual who goes to a casino or places bets on a sports game. It can have much more far-reaching consequences for family, community, and broader society. Part 2 of this series will discuss these effects of gambling in more depth.
Finally, the Catechism notes the importance of “working faithfully.” The Bible, too, emphasizes the importance of working for a living, rather than multiplying our wealth through dishonest gain. For example, Proverbs 13:11, says “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” We also read of the importance of work in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” And when we work faithfully, we can then share with those in need. Likewise, in Genesis 1, we read the dominion mandate, where God commanded Adam and Eve to work and to have dominion over the earth. Christians must not put their finances and families at risk in hopes of easy gain.
These broader principles certainly apply in more extreme cases of gambling (gambling frequently or compulsively or gambling huge sums). But Christians should also be careful to apply them in seemingly mild, recreational cases. For example, a bet with friends, or a buy-in to a poker game. We are called to be good stewards of our gifts, and that includes being wise about how we use our money. But commercial and online gambling are such that you don’t know the person you may be taking money from or how you’re contributing to the problems in their life. It is designed to encourage people to gamble more. Something that starts small can quickly spiral out of control.
The Government’s Role
What, then, is the government’s role? Should the government prohibit or restrict gambling simply because it’s a vice?
Governments make a lot of revenue off gambling. In Ontario, projections for revenue from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) and iGaming Ontario (iGO) in the 2024-25 fiscal year totalled nearly $2.8 billion. This revenue is a clear incentive for governments to permit and regulate gambling. But gambling revenue is not as lucrative as it appears when the negative impacts of gambling are factored in. Unlike gambling revenue, the cost of gambling in terms of personal virtue, family health, and various opportunity costs (healthier and more productive ways that time and money might be spent) is hard to measure. It’s not all about money, but gambling carries economic costs too.
There’s also a question of whether gambling revenue is a good and just way for governments to raise revenue. Gambling revenue disproportionately collects income from the poor. In fact, some of the poorest households in Ontario are likely to spend nearly 5% of their monthly income on gambling. Some researchers see gambling revenue as a tax in all but name, and gambling appears to be a voluntary tax. But it’s different than other taxes Canadians pay. It’s not proportional to income like income tax.
It’s also not like other taxes on vices such as alcohol or tobacco. With gambling, the government is taking a cut of their citizens’ losses without deterring the practice itself. Taxes on cigarettes and alcohol raise revenue, but governments also strictly limit where alcohol and tobacco can be sold and how it can be advertised – with tobacco advertising practically banned entirely. These “sin taxes” are also meant to disincentivize people from smoking or drinking a lot. With gambling, however, governments permit both Crown corporations and private companies to promote it aggressively.
Scripture notes that government is “God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain” (Romans 13). And of course, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). Government has a role in taxing its citizens and using those funds to administer justice. But we should be wary of governments profiting from and promoting a vice. One researcher called the government “gambling’s biggest addict.” Gambling revenues continues to grow, and our governments have little incentive to stop or discourage that growth, despite the negative effect it has on Canadians. It is not the government’s role to win big at the expense of its citizens.
Of course, when it comes to combatting vice, the government’s role is limited and wisdom is needed. Ultimately, government cannot change hearts, and the law plays a limited role in changing behaviours. But even aside from moral questions, the consequences of gambling on Canadian society are much greater than any benefits derived from increased gambling revenue.
In our next article, we’ll look more closely at the impact of the promotion of online gambling and sports betting.
