Everyone has made a casual bet with his or her friends. You know the situation, “I’ll bet you $10 that you can’t do… whatever the bet’s about.” The state of Texas declares gambling illegal. I find this to be a violation of individuals’ rights to do whatever they want with their money.

The state allows gambling, in some forms, such as the lottery, and takes some of the money to fund the public school systems. This kind of hypocrisy is not ignorable, as the state basically says, “It’s ok to gamble, but only if you’re playing our game.” And the odds of winning their game are quite slim.

The odds of hitting the jackpot are 1 in 25,827,165 according to justlottery.com. The Texas statute regarding gambling sites a violation of the gambling law if, “except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants.” The legislators seem to have forgotten that the “house” is also a participant when gambling. This makes the odds extremely biased in favor of the state gaining a lot of money, while the other participants receive a meager chance of winning.

There are obviously some forms of gambling that I, too, believe should be illegal. Anything that involves non-willing participants, i.e. cock fighting or dog fighting, should remain illegal, as the “fighters” do not get any choice in whether or not to fight. Betting on a boxing match however is fine.

I am personally not a gambler, as I personally do not care for throwing the money I have earned after the chance for a little bit more. I think that if the state of Texas is allowed to run a large-scale gambling operation, which is essentially a tax on people who can’t do math, then why should we not be allowed to have a casino here and there?