the mishna in sanhedrin 3:3 disqualifies a dice player from being a witness or a judge, and the gemara in sanhedrin 24b explains it two ways, either because what he takes is an asmachta and close to theft, or because he is not busy with yishuvo shel olam. but that is the professional gambler. what about a regular person?
1. is occasional gambling for fun, a lottery ticket, a casual card game, a friendly bet on a game, actually assur, or just frowned upon?
2. the rambam in hilchos gezeilah va’aveidah 6:10 to 11 counts playing dice among the things chazal forbade as derech gezel, and adds the same problem to buying and selling with people whose income comes from those things. what about investing in companies whose business is gambling, or other industries like that, does the same logic apply?
3. and when does it cross the line, when it becomes an addiction, when a person gambles money the family needs, when it takes over his time? is there a clear halachic point where a permitted game becomes assur?
bottom line: what is the actual halacha of gambling for a normal person, and what about profiting from the gambling industry?
Thank you Rabbi, thank you very much.
The classic sources are discussing a very specific problem, and I do not think every modern form of gambling automatically fits it.
The Gemara in Sanhedrin 24b gives two explanations for the problem of a professional dice player. One is asmachta, that a person agrees to the wager assuming he will win and therefore may never have fully intended to give away his money. The other is that somebody who makes gambling his occupation is not involved in יישובו של עולם, normal productive life.
The Rambam and Shulchan Aruch take the gambling concern seriously as a form of rabbinic gezel. The Rema, however, records the more lenient position and says that the accepted practice was not to disqualify someone who gambles if he has another occupation. He also brings opinions that where both sides knowingly put up the money and each accepts the possibility of losing, there is no asmachta.
That is why I do not see an inherent problem with ordinary gambling in a modern casino. The casino knows exactly what it is doing. It sets the odds mathematically so that over thousands of customers it will make money. The customer knows he may lose. There is no surprised private individual saying afterward, “I never really meant to give you that money.”
A lottery ticket, an occasional trip to a casino, or a casual wager is therefore not something I would call assur.
A private game between individuals can raise more of the old asmachta question, especially where someone is wagering an amount he never realistically expected to lose. But again, each case has to be understood for what it actually is.
The real problems begin when gambling takes over the person’s life. If you are gambling money your family needs, borrowing money to gamble, hiding losses, chasing losses, or cannot stop, then the problem is no longer an interesting sugya in asmachta. You have a serious problem. Get help.
The same applies to time. If someone occasionally gambles for recreation, that is one thing. If this has become his entire occupation and way of life, Chazal’s concern about אינו עוסק ביישובו של עולם becomes very relevant.
As for owning stock in a casino company or another gambling business, I do not see that as prohibited either. If the underlying activity is not itself forbidden in the circumstances, merely investing in the company does not create a new prohibition.
So the bottom line is that gambling itself is not the problem. The classic halachic concerns are asmachta and making gambling your livelihood. Today, the much bigger practical concerns are addiction, irresponsibility, and gambling with money you cannot afford to lose.