Today In Moralistic Hysteria

This is the key part of Publius’ take on the federal government devoting increasing resources to cracking down on online poker by freezing the accounts of players:

And just so we’re clear — I’m allowed to play government-administered lotteries, to bet on horse races, to go to casinos, and to purchase things from AIG. But the federal government is apparently drawing the line at Demon Rum online poker. We delicate snowflakes simply cannot endure its horrors.

The lottery point is really key. I prefer a more libertarian allow-regulated-and-taxed gambling approach. I can also see an argument that the social ills that come from gambling mean that it should be banned. But what I can’t defend is banning online poker while permitting incredibly low-odds state lotteries. On can say something similar about New York permitting a slots-only casino in Yonkers. I can see arguments for both permitting and banning casinos, but I can’t see any argument for allowing casinos but only allowing them the games that are probably the most addictive, provide the least jobs, and have the least appeal to affluent people (hence making the de facto tax as regressive as possible). If anybody can defend banning (as opposed to regulating and taxing) online poker but permitting state lotteries and state slot machines, I’d love to see the argument.