What does religion say about gambling?

Some of these religion based rationales to call gambling a sin are pretty poorly reasoned. Such as:

"Gambling is motivated by a desire to get something for nothing."

"...promote a desire to get something for nothing"

First, that's factually wrong.  Gambling does not give you "something for nothing".  With gambling you get the low probability of a big payout in exchange for the high probability of a small loss.

Second, there's a logical absurdity.  I'm going to assume that religionists who say gambling is a sin would not, however, say that accepting a gift is a sin.  And that means, under their morality, that the "desire to get something for nothing" is sinful, but the actual act of accepting something for nothing is just fine.  Ridiculous.

"Gambling is driven by greed"

That's just a facile assertion offered with no attempt to support it.  On the contrary, existing studies show that the reasons that people gamble do not involve greed.  For the vast majority it is a form of entertainment, and with compulsive, self-destructive gamblers it is addiction to both the thrill of the risk and to the rush of the rare success.

And anyone who takes time to think about it realizes that people who are truly greedy do not gamble, because greedy people avoid enterprises where they will probably lose.  Greedy people are fixated on ways to increase their wealth that don't entail any serious risk of loss.

"Gamblers hope to gain money through the losses of others"

In that regard buying insurance (betting that something bad will happen to you) works on the same principle as gambling.  With insurance you put in a small amount.  Winning is defined as something bad happening to you.  And then you get a big payout from the proceeds of other people who haven't "won".   These religionists don't call insurance a sin.  But it works just like gambling.

"Gamblers often rely on superstitions or luck. However, God views such beliefs as a form of idolatry, which is incompatible with his worship."

This is obviously not any argument against gambling itself, but only an argument against incorporating superstitions into your play.

"Gambling can arouse an unhealthy competitive spirit"

Utterly incoherent.  Countless activities in both recreational pursuits and in people's careers arouse some kind of competition.  And any form of competition can become unhealthy, depending on the personalities involved.  Shall all those activities now be considered as sinful for such a reason?  Again, ridiculous.