Just don't get caught because it will not be a good ending for you and no amount of explanation and persuasion can make your employer or senior colleagues agree with you on that reason.
It's absolutely wrong for someone who's employed to do a particular job by a particular firm to be gambling during working time and if for any reason he's relieved of his duties after the employer finds out about his gambling engagements during working hours, I think the best to do in other to save sack him for his unprofessionalism. To everything there's a time and for an employee to engage in gambling activities during working hours, it simply means he's not actually serious with work and such a person I think deserves to be sacked without waiting for any sort lf explanation to justify his action
It is wrong as you have noted. When you work and gamble, you
must lose focus on the job.
The "must" you used is what actually attracted me in your sentence and I strongly disagree with it as used. Three factors are important here which are 1). The nature of the job and 2). The time of gambling, and 3). The nature of the gambler.
Depending on the job, many workers have enough time to do whatever they want to do whether the thing is useful or not, and if they do not gamble at that time, they might even possibly be idle for hours doing nothing. Gambling that time and with that nature of work will never make you lose focus. Of course, unless you are an addict who gambles anyhow which is a different context entirely.
But so long as the gambler is wise and responsible himself, this is not an issue as he would know the right time to gamble and when not to. However, if you are such that gambling is affecting your focus at work, then quit it, but should not be treated as a basis for everyone, especially those who know how to handle themselves well.
Gambling can affect emotion whether a gambler is winning or not. When you are winning, you become excited and want to continue gambling and when you are losing you become sad and then you pick offense over everything. Even an order from your superior can trigger anger and even disobedience because your mood has been distorted. This can affect the activeness and productivity of such workers.
Hahaha...This point is very right, and if you are such that can't handle yourself you should quit it at that time, it is never by force. But mind you, if a person is passing aggression just because of losses in gambling, how are you sure that the same person will not pass the same aggression when he gambles during off-work hours?
For clarity, what if the person has just lost a huge amount of money a few hours prior to resuming work on that day or next, will such be happy as if nothing has happened? Certainly No. This is why I still see this as individual behaviours which gamblers must strive to avoid. It is never peculiar to gambling at work at all, it is part of the irresponsible behaviour in gambling that we generally preach against.
There is also every tendency that a gambler who gambles during work might find it challenging to get to work early since sometimes he will use money meant for transportation to place a bet and then scrabble to get a replacement which is not always easy.
You can't just stop getting me laughing here. What you are trying to buttress still lies within the same point you've been trying to establish. What you just explained is the irresponsible character of a gambler and not a matter of gambling at work or not. If a gambler gambles at work and can't fund his transport home and also back to work the next day, is that not foolishness/addiction? What if the same gambler did not gamble at work but gambled senselessly after work with all his money including the one that would take him home and back to the workplace the next day? Will he not suffer the same fate? Think about it, it is still the same thing and is not peculiar to gambling at work as it can happen to gamblers at any time. It generally an irresponsible act by a gambler which is due to the lack of self-control and management of scarce resources.