I was having a conversation about gambling with two young men and one of them said gambling is not for the poor people, that it has the proclivity to favour rich people much than with the poor, and the examples he gave made me to come close to endorsing his interpretation.
His argument is that the rich people gambling do not have to pack a lot of odds as in parlay bet to accumulate a high odd size that will give a satisfying potential win. The rich has the money to risk huge amount to a single game for instance 2 odds staked with $1 million to win $2 millions, but the poor staking with $100 to win $2 million has to pick multiple legs to accumulate odds to get such potential win. It hence decreases the gambling winning chance whilst the rich gambler chance remains increased.
Gambling is indeed risky for both rich and poor people. But its effects work differently on the rich and the poor. When a rich person gambles, even if he loses $1000 financially, it will not seem like much to him. Because his income is high and this financial loss does not affect his personal life much. But for a poor person, it is a different story. Most poor people consider gambling as a way out of poverty. But when a poor person loses $50 gambling, even though the amount is small, it has a very big impact on his life. When people with low incomes lose money, it takes time for them to recover from it. While gambling is convenient for the rich, it is basically risky for everyone. And for the poor, it is more risky.