Is gambling a sin?

Tweet

Last night in one of my classes, our professor went on a 30 minute rant about how gambling is a sin and shouldn't be done. Well, I come from a gambling family. My grandfather earned money during the winter by gambling on horses (he was a farmer). I was somewhat offended by what he had to say. I think it was mainly because of some of the off the wall statements he made. Such as, gambling does not benefit society at all (economically or socially). I think gambling in moderation is not wrong, and is similar to entertaining yourself at a movie. However, I don't like contributing money to some of the casinos who are obviously trying to take advantage of people (even though I think people have a responsibility for their own actions no matter how poor they are). Anyways, what do you think about the situation? Is gambling a sin? Do you think recreational gambling is terrible? Do you gamble?