https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Casino
It seems harmful to let gambling be unregulated...
Even loot boxes in games are illegal https://boundingintocomics.com/2020/10/30/netherlands-rules-...
There is a Chinese Internet slang "智商税" ("IQ tax"), used to describe products with questionable actual value, like pseudoscience-based health products, luxurious goods with crazy price tags. The idea is that only people with poor judgement would buy such products, and in doing so are being taxed for low IQ.
But a state-run casino... that's a literal IQ tax.
We also have state-run casinos in Québec, as well as state-run lotteries. They have a legal monopoly on gambling, except for some exceptions for bars and online betting which is practically unregulated.
It seems barely any better make a state revenue stream out of it.
We have the same thing on Hungary, there is one state controlled gambling company that's under heavy regulation (18+ only, full with warning signs against gambling, barely any advertisements, has only a few old-school products like scratch cards)
No stockholders who expect infinite profit growth, no CxO with bonuses dependent on increasing revenue, and has public oversight by default: government should be the only entity trusted to directly engage in any vice business. They are the only entity I trust to put honest effort in decreasing their user base.
If it's something like a police officer whose funding comes from collecting fines, sure, there are really bad incentives there. But if the government casino department isn't eating what it kills then it doesn't seem like a problem.
- corporation’s primary revenue stream
- local government’s major revenue stream
- state/federal government’s minor revenue stream
- criminal org’s major revenue stream (prohibition)
Given those choices, state+ size governments are least likely to paperclip-optimize for gambling “revenue”, and federal/national government would care the most about negative externalities since they compete with other nations, on metrics removed from raw “tax” revenue.
And the US has state lottos already.