I agree with this. Apart from pissing in a bottle of course
I’ve not got a problem with people betting, although it’s not something that appeals to me. But I do think industry needs more regulation, due to the things brb points out where betting companies encourage people to bet more and more and have very little checks and balances about people’s capacity to stop, or about what they can afford. As pointed out people lose their houses, families and jobs through gambling addiction. But like Saf points out, the same is true about alcohol, and that is pushed heavily by the industry.
The problem with politicians gambling on the outcome of the election, is that they are directly involved in that industry and even if they don’t have a material affect on the outcome, it’s something they shouldn’t even be anywhere near.
We have rules about footballers not betting on the game, and serious sanctions for those that do. The way I see it, this is the same issue that applies to politicians betting on political outcomes.