Recently I was around a physical bet shop close to my area and I observed a man who was shabbily dressed walking in the gambling house. I got into the place to observe what his intentions were. He walked straight to the gaming attendant, placed his bets in a highly coordinated manner and quietly walked out of the physical gambling house. From the way he was well organized, you will never know that he was mentally unsound apart from his dirty clothes and unkept hair and beard.
When I inquired from the attendant, she said he was a regular customer and that he usually raised money for gambling through the manual jobs he does around the area. She also told me that he has never misbehaved and acted violently in the gambling house so she was comfortable with him.
My question now is are there any moral, ethical or legal obligation to bar a person from gambling after physically observing that he is mentally unstable?
There's something most people don't know, gambling addiction is a mental disorder, for those who can actually relate, ask yourself why can't I stop?? Even after telling yourself you won't but you always find your self going back and it feels like you have no control over it..
If someone has a mental disorder and probably starts gambling, the mental issues of that person will only be escalated, how do you think he or she would react after losing a bet when they are not in control of their emotions, it would be highly disastrous
These were exactly my thoughts after reading the OP. People who are mentally okay often find it difficult regulating their gambling activities which most times leads to a more serious issue for them. For someone who is already mentally challenged, there are tendencies that he might end up as an impulsive gambler generating money to the casinos all in the name of gambling.
In my opinion, I think mentally challenged people should not be allowed to gamble because they do not know what they are doing and they do not have that capacity to make informed decisions. Same way underaged people are not allowed to gamble, mentally unstable people should not be allowed too.