Bitcointalk is important, indeed. It is important within the crypto space and Bitcoin community because if his historical importance and also because of the content which is shared here by people who really knows about Bitcoin and how it works. Though, in terms of volume, I am afraid this forum format has lost much against what the new generation of crypto users are now more used to: chats on Discord/Telegram, microblogging on Twitter/X. You know, this is a formas to share I formation which was appealing one or two decades ago for the general public, now it takes a little big to get back to it.  That does not spoil anything of the value of the post one can find here, though.
When comes to gambling and the volume relative to gambling, then I assume there is also indeed competition in other places to engage with this community, though, because if the value and (historical, technical and informative) is good to see there are some within the team of Stake whose job is to keep this thread and the community update with events and promotions for all of us.
Let us hope it continues to be that way for many years, it helps to continue this place pretty much alive.