> you'll see legions of people who do not understand statistics and pay a heavy price for that.

At the risk of stating the obvious, and not adding to the conversation, I think we all know that people putting their life savings into slot machines aren't doing so because they don't understand expected value. They may or may not understand that they are going to lose all their money, but they are gambling because they are addicted/have some kind of mental health problem. Knowledge of statistics doesn't really affect things for problem gambling.

As for those putting modest amounts of money into gambling, most of them will tell you that card games/etc. are fun, and are therefore worth it.