Should Christians gamble?? 

I’m betting we shouldn’t.

Gambling is a serious problem. My grandma lost everything to gambling. But it’s not my fault I had better cards than her.

Kind of like keeping the Sabbath Holy, don't worry so much about what you shouldn't do but focus on doing good things. Instead of gambling, do good things: pay tithing, give to the poor. Good discussion.

You young men are absolutely amazing and wonderful! Follow the Prophet!🤗🤗🤗

I love card games. I love the gospel more, but if I were told that I couldn’t play with face cards after going to the temple, that probably would’ve made me hesitate for a minute. I’m thankful that I can go to the temple and play cards in the same day without feeling sinful, because cards aren’t the sin. The sin is gambling.

The face card thing was actually said as recently as 1998 when Gordon B. Hinkley admonished the saints at conference to put away the face cards.

I agree with Joseph F. Smith. Unfortunately for me, apparently God teaches me best through pain, and as of 8/29/2022 at 6:10 pm, I learned about the gamble of driving when a drunk driver hit me hard, destroying my car and giving me semi-severe injuries on my legs and quite a bit of traumatic stress (it’s not PTSD until it’s been more than a month, I think). I now know very well how risky life is, and honestly, with inflation up where it is, if your money’s not in the stock market, you’re losing money (unfortunately, I’m losing money both in and out right now). But yeah, life’s a gamble. I may be losing right now but I trust that my Savior can give me much greater blessings. Eternal life and true joy.

To think that EVERY word ever uttered by ANY prophet or apostle is an exact, comprehensive, binding law, that there isn't a principle at play and details may change over time, is to think that we must all, currently follow the law of Moses to the letter, too. I just watched a video where the head of an evangelical seminary, whose point was to have dialogue with our church, still, personally, has a problem with new revelations which undo the old rather than simply add another level. That's a HUGE gap between us and other Christians.

I love the concept of fence laws

Really loved the comment about how if you don't gamble, your marriage can't be ruined by gambling. Although somewhat humorous because its such a seemingly obvious statement, I think it reveals a beautiful truth - what you allow into your life, or don't allow into your life, will shape it. So if we know full well that gambling, alcohol and pornography so often are the root cause of ruining marriages, if you don't let them into your life then they can't ruin yours. To extend it further, if you learn to put off anger, jealousy, bitterness, resentment, etc., then those things can't ruin your marriage (or any relationships). But I think the point is most clear for those substances and habits that are destructive. If we don't engage in those then "they will have no power over you... to bring you down to misery", the words (roughly) of Helaman 5:12 which was also teaching us that if we choose daily to make the Saviour our rock then through Him, these things that may now plague us can be overcome and have no more power.

Good topic

Anybody played Egyptian Ratscrew? I love that game and Spades (very similar to Hearts)!

I think the difference between gambling and investing is were the gains come from. When you gamble you win at the expenses of others. When you invest in something it grows and everyone involved expirences an increase. I think this principle can be apply to the stock market or the casinos

2:20. The same thing can be said about able body and minded people getting on the dole, instead of working. It is harmful to expect and demand things for which no work has been done. The quote from the church early on said nothing about addiction or bad financial management. It is the negative view of work in the mind of gamblers which The Lord denounced.

I bet this is gonna be a great video

I have a friend that each she plays she says "maybe this time I will win and quite my job" and then each times she loses she says "well I'm going back to my crappy life" I can't imagine this being great on your emotions, you just keep thinking your life is crap, and winning is the only way you can be happy, and since you don't win, then "your life is and will always be crappy". Makes a lot of depressed people.

If I have $100 budgeted to spend on entertainment, I could spend it on a lot of things... a concert, a theme park, a dinner. I see no sin in choosing to spend it at a casino for entertainment purposes with the assumption that, when the activity is done, I will have no money left, and I will have only the memory of the experience. This is the same result as attending a concert or theme park. HOWEVER, though entertaining yourself at a casino may be no sin, it is dangerous and probably ill-advised, similar to the way French kissing before marriage might be ill-advised or spending the money on $100 of candy for myself might be ill-advised. These things might be enjoyable and not necessarily sinful, but there are potential negative consequences to my actions. In the case of spending $100 at a casino, potential negative consequences include a chemical high that might actually trigger an expensive gambling addiction; being discovered by a friend or family member (such as my children) who, unfortunately, considers me an example of gospel living and struggles with their testimony as a result of my actions; other consequences? When making decisions like this, it can be helpful to consider all the potential negative consequences and whether I want to take that risk. Playing "gambling" card games with family and friends who aren't actually gambling real money is hardly different than playing other card games. Again, the potential negative consequences include the same two consequences I listed above, but their already minimal likelihood is reduced even further in this case.

Another fantastic video; thank you!

Yes. Prophets give us specific warnings for our time.

I think there's a major difference between slot machines and card games. The former takes no effort or strategy. The latter requires strategy much like a ball game, which takes learning and practice.

My non-memeber friend had a nine to five job as a poker player. Stared at 9 ad ended at 5 five days a week. Not addicted. Treated it as a job. Turned over $90K a year, with a profit of $60K. Have friends who have also done this with horse racing. My non-member brother was paid for his tax advice, a 1.4% share in a struggling tech company 28 years ago. That company bought his share 24 years later for $750000 - was that a gamble? Stocks are a game of finacial chance...

Just to be a fly in the ointment, an apostle was chosen by lots (gambling). Acts Chapter 1:26: 26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Jacob: O be wise, what can I say more? David Snell: Don't be an idiot. It checks out. Also... I live in Vegas. I avoid the Strip as much as I can. But I have to be grateful to all the suckers who keep our economy afloat.

Everything has a cost. That is The Law of Equivalent Exchange

1:15. Taco Bell doesn't give me diahrea. That was a ridiculous comment.

The difference between gambling and risking money on a business is whether a thing is being made or one is preparing to perform a service. It's not difficult to figure it out.

it is in the handbook

What if you stay at a hotel/resort and you are given free play amount to use at the casino. Nothing to lose.

Don’t gamble, ppl lose hard earned money. Pay Tithing and Invest into safe index funds or sp 500 Or what ever safe investments you can

In a competitive family, face cards can be just as bad as Uno or Scrabble or Monopoly.

It ruined a marriage of my friend’s.

Gambling is just one of the many activities that could be overdone. Sometimes we just spend too much time not doing anything really productive. When we have addictions, of which gambling could be one. Our mind is not on serving the lord at all. As far as gambling goes and family games goes, many families find games to be very social for family reunions and get togethers. There is certainly nothing wrong with discussions over a game. However I would think that there are many productive and spiritual activities that could be selected as well, like activities of family history. So, it is probably best not to let game-like activities to be our only social outlet.

Professional gamblers study, play, and understand. It's mental work. Sports book gambling takes a lot of work to track teams, players, coaches, referees, etc. Saying that you are getting something for nothing in either of these two areas simply is not true. Many professional gamblers spend years understanding it as a sport in and of itself. Annie Duke has put out many great books including Thinking in Bets, which has some great skills that can go into other aspects of your life. Haralabos Voulgaris made a career off of understanding college basketball and the NBA. He bet accordingly and made millions. He's played professional poker, worked for the Dallas Mavericks, and now owns a professional soccer team. The idea that poker and gambling are bad is often said by someone that doesn't fully understand what all that entails. Sitting and wasting a day and your money at slots is probably what this referred to, but I just don't see how it entails some areas of gambling that actually take much more skill and knowledge than just getting something for nothing.

I honestly view it as entertainment and if I happen to make money then great!!. I don't go very often, hardly at all but when I do I set for my self a hard and fast rule of only using a certain amount say $50 or $100. Sometimes I wouldn't even bring my cards and just a bill. Once I start making some $$$ I set my original bit aside and just play with house money. Most time's I've walked away with excess. Also I avoid the machines, those things are rigged.

What about a lottery? Fantasy football? Heads or tails?

How about CFD trading? Is it a kind of gambling?

Is making money in the Stock market considered gambling or investing in real estate gambling, etc, etc. What is at the core of anything we do to better our situation. The most reward for the least effort and that is working smarter versus harder. I think we always need to be careful with addiction and that is very true but people can throw money at anything they think will make them a buck whether good or bad. The elements of gambling is investing time or money for something in return. This could apply to almost anything in life. One thing that bothers me with getting something for nothing is with Doctors getting outrageous sums of money per procedure, lawyers getting a lot of money for not much work, politicians, etc and we don't talk about those professions getting something for nothing or a lot of compensations for little work. Professional gamblers who do that for a living will tell you its not easy and very stressful and to say they are getting something for nothing is just not be educated from their perspective. My concern is this in that the core principles of gambling are the same as investing in any investment as we invest money for a return with the least amount of effort. Furthermore, we don't look at the professions that could fall into this category of getting something (alot of compensation) for nothing because a lot of the high leaders in the church are doctors, pilots, lawyers, on the board of directors, politicians, etc, etc. I think their is a lot of gray areas with this and we need to be careful. Being careful of addiction of any area in your life. I think money doesn't bring happiness but either does poverty. Be careful in investing in whatever we do. The Church allows members to work in Casinos and they are taking 10% that income for tithing. I think we need to remember the Kirkland safety society people put their trust in that with a hope that it was safe investment and people lost their life savings. I think we need to be careful not to judge to harshly as most things with money are a gamble. I think the key is to be guided by the spirit and that we are using the money to do good in helping the needy around us. A lot of people view gambling as a business, people view crypto as a business, people view trading stocks as a business, people view real estate as a business.

People support their families with gambling and sports betting. They remove the risk to make it a stable income. I follow a person Christopher Mitchell who supports his family with gambling and gives a lot to charity. I guess the ends doesn't justified the means but I feel if you don't look at something from both side your not truly educated.I would hate to say he cannot support his family and church because I feel its gambling. If someone wants to gamble they need to educate themselves as with any career choice we make. I take the caution from the church and understand the wisdom they are giving us. I wish you would focus more about wealthy people in the church who have much wealth and how they receive a lot of wealth for nothing. We look at gambling that way but much of the wealthy in the church I am sure have received much wealth for little work which we don't get into. I am not trying to be right or wrong on this issue but to bring perspective, learning, and further understanding. Thanks for continuing to speak on these topics,

Hahahahaha Taco Hell has never been a more fitting nickname!! 🌮🔥

Only a fool and a sucker would gamble. It is a waist of time.

I love the Taco Bell analogy 😆

Pass judgement on your own life and certainly don't let what some other guy wrote in a book dictate to you what is moral or ethical. The mere fact that this is an opinion piece debating the topic proves you have your own compass to follow.

6:22 Isn’t this principle of the spirit in which things are done dictating whether an action is good or bad exactly how Joseph Smith’s brother, William, and other early church members delineated between adultery and spiritual wifery?

I asked my mission president why tattoos and gambling weren't in Preach My Gospel and he said something that I'll never forget...

Is it just a coincidence, but all the ads during this video have been about making money?

It's ok if you have some extra funds. Not ok if you gamble away funds needed to live.

Since you didn't talk about how good work is, when you should have; that could be another video idea.

8:13 Is the divorce rate in the LDS church significantly higher, significantly lower, or roughly the same as the non-LDS divorce rate?

Do trading cards count as gambling? I’m not part of this church but I’m just curious to hear what you guys think.

Conan o'Brien is the funniest guy alive. Any yeah eating taco bell is a huge gamble.

At some point in your life you have to recognize that spending $25 on those tokens at Chuckee Cheese to win enough tickets to get a bouncy ball is not a good return on investment, but yet we do it for our kids for entertainment. I would love to have the money my father in law spent on scratch off tickets. He would tell us how good he was at them. What? No one is good at scratch off tickets.

I totally disagree with the premise of these guys’ position on gambling. What I’m hearing is that work needs to be a part of a financial gain but what is work? Does that mean that passive income is wrong? This premise opens up more questions than it answers. Even the definition of gambling in this video is still unclear and common sense just doesn’t cut it because,unfortunately, common sense is not so common. People gamble everyday with investments and even that word investment is fluid depending on who is talking. Too many ambiguous terms and no clear conclusions in this video. It’s a great video to be had but the execution is poor and doesn’t really answer anything on the topic. Sorry guys…

Church advises do not gamble! But if you win the lottery, although the church doesn't want the I'll gotten money 💲💰 you will not pass a temple recommend interview unless you are a full tithe payer so if you are otherwise temple ready pay your tithing and STOP gambling.

Do not get it twisted. You will lose.

The Church holds almost $50 billion in stocks. Investing in the stock market IS gambling and it IS getting something for nothing. Such insanely massive hypocrisy coming from the Mormon church. Saints Unscripted, can you give me any coherent reason why stock speculation is not gambling but poker is?

I heard it’s an effortless way for billionaires to become millionaires 😁