I'm too in the same thought process as you guys. There could be some people that might be destroying their lives due to gambling but such stupid people are everywhere. If they are not destroying their lives through gambling, they'll do it with some other ways. It's a natural flow of money that travels from one to other. Restricting it would be against the financial freedom of people. In modern time, government should limit themselves and let the market decide what it wants and what not. They could just regulate it and earn a cut from the profit.
A total ban normally only forces the thing underground and makes it all the more wanting by people. Rather than halting the given issue, it usually breeds new ones. People should not be banned entirely; regulation and education proves better in the case, the government is really willing to defend people. Individuals are supposed to choose what they want to do including making some of these decisions which might be risky as long as they have been made informed.