Uncle's Actions Under Fire for Exposing Niece to Gambling

A man on Reddit has shared that he is being slammed by his family after his niece played a gambling game on his Nintendo Switch.

"For the past week, a bunch of family from out of state has been visiting for the holidays including my (21M) older sister (35F), who came with her three daughters (2, 5, and 7, it's the 7 year old that this story is about). Three days ago, we're sitting in our living room, my sister is watching TV while her daughters play, and I'm sitting out there with them, playing Balatro on my Switch," he began.

The man explained that it is a game similar to poker.

"If you don't know, Balatro is an indie card game where you play poker hands to score points. It's simple, very addicting, and most importantly, not actually a tool for gambling. There are no microtransactions in-game, and the dev has made it clear he hates gambling," he explained.

The problem between the man and his sister came after he showed his niece the game, causing his sister to slam him.

"The oldest daughter (Ellie) comes up to me and asks what I'm playing. I start explaining it to her, my sister is on her phone, not really paying attention, so after a while, I let her try it out for a little, and she was glued to my Switch. I tell her that her mom could get it for her on the phone, and that she should ask later. A few hours later, once everyone has left, my sister texts me asking about the name of the game I had shown Ellie, so I text it back to her. A few minutes later, she texts me saying, 'Why are you teaching my daughter how to play poker?'" he revealed.

"I told her that I wasn't, it just used poker hands to score points, but she said not to show her daughter anymore games without her permission first," the man continued.

He shared that his sister then told the rest of the family that he was teaching his niece how to gamble.

"Then, for some reason, she decided to tell our mom, grandparents, and the other aunts and uncles there that I was trying to teach the kids how to gamble. It was easy to explain away to some of them ('it's a video game where you score points, you don't spend money on it'), my mom required some extra visuals, but she eventually got it. But there are still people here who are acting like I've actually done something wrong, and now I'm not entirely sure if I did or not," the man concluded.

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Users in the comments section sounded off, with people siding with the man.

"At least you didn’t teach her how to bluff! That’s a skill for the family poker night, not for the playground!" one person joked.

"It seems like your sister needs to understand the distinction between a harmless card game and poker. Perhaps her frustration stems from the fact that she lost all of the rounds on your Switch," another said.

"You did nothing wrong. You showed your neice a game where there was no money involved. Even if it was poker," someone else chimed in.

"You were just trying to share a fun game with your niece, and there's no harm in that. It's unfortunate that she spread misinformation and caused unnecessary tension. Try to have a calm conversation with her when things have cooled down," another advised.