Ask HN: Is working on online casinos unethical?

I think I think (yes..) that it is. Because you are creating technology that almost certainly is making the world worse. The amount of joy people get from gambling for fun is outweighed by the amount of grief gambling addiction causes. And even if it isn't, most online casinos are designed in such a way to attract addicts. I'm not very sure of my opinion, so I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks!

Edit: Ops. Should have mentioned that in my part of the world, online gambling is not illegal.

Tl;dr - Yes.

The first source of money for online casinos is not the money that the poor addict pours into it, it is the huge money laundering operations that are done in the back. Online casinos are not based in places that you will imagine particular transparent in terms of tax policy. They are based in Malta (russian money), Gibraltar (UK money) or in places like the Caiman Islands, Panama... A journalist was murdered in Malta for just speaking about this.

as unethical as working for tobacco companies.

It's illegal. Working for people who break the law for money is generally considered to be unethical.

Even if you, personally, feel OK about it, ask yourself what would happen if a prospective (future) employer found out about your activities.

> You will not blow your (and potentially your family's) savings by browsing facebook and seeing being shown ads.

Ads often incite people to buy things. This must work at least some of the time, or ads wouldn't exist. So some people do spend their money on unnecessary junk through browsing facebook.