I'm not arguing that you violated any laws. You made it very clear that you went to great lengths to avoid doing anything that could have resulted in consequences to yourself.

EDIT: Since HN's rate limiting won't let me reply for a few hours, I'll just address the replies inline:

I'm not jealous. I'm sure noduerme made a sizable chunk of money with the whole operation at the time but their profile says they're now working as a taxi driver and sold all their bitcoin before the peak. They probably have a lot of other interesting stories to tell and that's nice. But dismissing any hostility or criticism as jealousy is thought terminating and frankly below even HN's standards.

Based on their backstory in the replies, I can see where their attitude comes from, but they severely underestimate how big of a problem gambling addiction is and how much of the profit of the gambling industry relies on it.

It's nice if the casino their parents worked at turned away obvious addicts but the word "obvious" is doing a lot of work here and there are also clear business reasons you don't want obvious addicts in your establishment the same way bars will be happy to have repeat customers buying drinks for five hours every day but will turn them away if they get blackout drunk or unsightly. "Not doing it for the money" may give you a clean conscience but it doesn't change the consequences of your actions.

It's also important to point out that online gambling is by its nature functionally anonymous for the gambler (even if you record IDs for legal reasons). The online casino isn't going to turn away the addict until they can no longer pay or have to resort to fraud to keep up the habit. And even if the casino implements limits, the proliferation of online casinos makes it considerably easier to go hopping than if you have to physically drive somewhere.

Gambling addiction not only ruins the lives of the addict but also impacts their friends and family, not just financially. It's true that not every person who gambles is an addict but the line between an expensive hobby and a managed addiction is hard to draw until you undeniably cross it.

But if you need a comment on HN to explain to you why gambling and especially online gambling is bad, a comment on HN isn't going to be enough to convince you.

Hah! This made me laugh. Ok so not FOMO..(trust me, wasn't worth it except for the thrills).. why hostile? I was born in a Vegas family. My uncles all worked as blackjack dealers and pit bosses. When I was 7 they used to leave me in a corner of the casino for hours and tell me to stand there while my parents went and gambled. I taught myself to code there on a TRS-80 Model 100 in basic and practically the first thing I wrote was a slot machine. My view is that adults want to go gamble and that's their decision. I never took a dime from anyone I saw with a gambling problem... I would ban them from my site if they seemed addicted. I like to gamble myself. I count cards. Like everyone on my site... because my decks were single shuffle. So don't be so judgmental. I didn't do it for the money. I did it because I love the games.

The same jealousy that's called "opinionated" in software development, but really means "Doing things differently than how I do them threatens me, because my sense of superiority is rooted in how I do things."