Many of us love this time of year. It’s the end of winter. The beginning of baseball. Augusta National is about to put on its tournament, complete with a dazzling display of perfect azaleas. And it’s March Madness.

If you’ve watched any sporting event, you have been bombarded with ads encouraging you to get in on the sports betting action. Even the duo who succeeded Rush, pepper their show with ads, the latest lines and advice on where to place your bets. One host (the recovering Obama voter) seems addicted to Polymarket. That site is considered by many to be the Wild West of online gambling. These high-tech casinos have made it easy to lose your next paycheck from the convenience of your phone.

All of the advertising and glitz are designed to help us look past some uncomfortable facts.

Gambling is a vice. In modern America, it is a Vice elevated to an art form. Promoters want us to see it as a form of entertainment. But if you have ever walked through a casino, you must have seen the slack-jawed seniors pumping quarters into the slot machines. Did they look like they were enjoying good, clean entertainment?

No, the truth is that gambling in all its mutations is simply a giant wealth........

© Townhall