Any chef passing a bad bistro is permitted but not required to offer his professional opinion to would-be customers: Danger! Inedible coq au vin! Similarly, you could have spoken to that blackjack loser. And then you could have said something to every other gambler in the place. Consider this: Where do you suppose the money came from to build this lavish casino? And this: The odds on every game in this joint favor the house. And this: Americans shelled out about $64 billion on legal gambling last year. And this: The former basketball great Charles Barkley recently settled his debts to Steve Wynn's casino -- $400,000. In 2006, Barkley estimated his cumulative losses at $10 million.

Which is to say that nearly all gamblers are bad gamblers (if not as persistent as Barkley). And while a tiny minority of them do OK, they are anomalies. So had you decided to counsel that blackjack loser, consistency would have required you to give a lot of speeches and, if you are truly concerned about bad gamblers -- i.e., gamblers -- to seek other employment. Or to chant the self-serving mantra of the casino owner: Gambling is a form of entertainment for which some people are willing to pay by losing. (Only cynics call such people "suckers." Or "prey.")