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A thread on something little understood. Until quite recently, the church opposed gambling not for today's ethical, economic and mental health reasons - but because it was considered a form of magic 
The word sorcery derives from Latin 'sortilegium', which literally means the reading of lots. Since sorcery is prohibited in Scripture, theologians were divided about whether this meant the use of lots to read the future, or the use of lots for any purpose
Some theologians concluded that gambling was a sin because gamblers wagered on the future, something that only God truly knew. Gambling therefore represented a temptation to make contact with demons in an attempt to know the future
It was even possible, some said, that demons might help gamblers win in order to draw them further into this sin. Gambling was sinful because it displayed a lack of faith in God's providence and evinced a pagan attitude to luck and fortune
Gamblers were little better than pagans, on this interpretation, because they began to personify 'Lady Luck' and started to worship fortune above God. Gambling was therefore a form of apostasy AND a form of sorcery
All of this background is important for understanding how one card game, tarot, became invested with occult significance in the 19th century. It was not that tarot was *more* occult than other card games: to many critics before the c19th, *all* card games were occult
The link between gambling and magic has never entirely been broken, though, as gambling is still a focus for 'superstition', such as the carrying and wearing of lucky charms and mascots. Normal causality does not seem to apply in the psychology of the gambler
And a final thought: maybe it isn't an accident that Las Vegas, famous for its gambling, has also become famous for magic shows - perhaps because gamblers are peculiarly susceptible to belief in magic
