There's no gambling in Balatro.
Hell, the very first Pokemon games on the Gameboy 30 years ago had slot machines.
Should those have had 18+ ratings?
Surely not. That would be absurd.
It is not "gambling" when the stakes are not real
From wikipedia:
``` Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elements to be present: consideration (an amount wagered), risk (chance), and a prize. ```
If you arent wagering anything of value then it is not gambling
Fake game currency is not of value
So, for instance, if you post on Hacker News and hope that people are swayed by your post, or will give interesting replies, you're gambling.
Reading Hacker News is the hope that you'll find some good articles and commentary.
Trust me, I'm risking FAR more by making this post than I've ever risked playing Balatro (although then again, buying a game is a risk, so... really, every purchase is gambling, wow!)
Hopefully you can see how this is an incredibly useless definition for the purposes of holding a meaningful conversation about the world?