Question:  I have a friend here who makes a lot of money in his free time. Good for him, I guess, except that I’m a little disturbed by the way he makes it: it’s all off of online casino gambling. He focuses on different types of “skill games,” he says, and he knows he can win most of the time. But my parents used to tell me that “the house always wins.” I’d love to hear a little more from the experts about casinos and online gambling–can my friend really be making money consistently? Is it even legal?

Answer:  Gambling has been around for a very, very long time: it’s at least as old as ancient civilization. These days, it’s an industry worth $240 billion in the US alone, one that has given rise to massive brick-and-mortar casinos as well as countless online gambling websites.

But is gambling good for us? Your fear for your friend is not entirely unfounded. Gambling can be addictive, and casinos can have negative effects on neighboring areas. Some consider gambling immoral for religious reasons, while others consider it to be a societal evil because it makes money for casinos at the expense of some of society’s most vulnerable members.

But gambling has its good side, too. A casino can turn a town into a tourist hotspot, and that’s nothing to scoff at: the tourism consultants in Henry County, Georgia say that tourism can be a huge source of wealth for a region, and booms (and busts) can be felt particularly acutely in smaller towns. Native American reservations often use casinos to drive wealth into areas that might otherwise suffer–though, by some metrics, casinos may make life worse in such places. And, of course, gambling is fun–as long as you do it responsibly.

Casinos and online gambling do offer games of skill, and that classification is why many online casinos are legal in many states. Whether or not your friend’s activities are legal depends on what sorts of games he’s playing and where he’s playing them, but many states allow some form of what most people would consider to be gambling. And since the games of skill do allow players to improve and win more consistently, they can theoretically be played at a profit–though, in reality, this is very difficult to achieve, and any attempt to become a “professional” gambler is more likely to result in money lost than a career gained.

Whether or not your friend is in danger depends largely on how he manages risk. If he sets limits on his losses and knows when to walk away, then he won’t find his gambling hobby to be too costly. But if he lets good money chase bad when he’s on a losing streak, then the money he’s made could slip away fast–and take some of his savings with it. If you’re concerned, talk to him about his habits and do a little research on gambling addiction. Hopefully, your friend is just a person with a hobby who happens to be good enough to make some cash once in a while–and if that’s the case, you don’t need to worry too much.

“Quit while you’re ahead. All the best gamblers do.” — Baltasar Gracian Y Morales