I don't think its a question of if poker is a skill; people, skilled or unskilled, can become dangerously addicted to poker and lose their shirts in the process. Most legitimate games of skill do not involve risking your livelihood to participate.
To "disrupt" the gambling industry is to inevitably profit off of addicts.
(Though, the same could be said of booze makers and alcoholics.)
Absolutely. I've seen quite a few friends literally wreck their lives by playing WoW and other MMORPGs.
I used to play poker with a group of local friends. It started off friendly enough ($50 tournaments). They started playing a lot of cash games and the table stakes got crazy (e.g. $1k+ hands). Needless to say, I left that group behind.
It's a matter of personal discipline. If you can't afford to throw the money out the window, you shouldn't be playing. I play because I enjoy the game and the company of friends.
I'm surprise no one mentioned stocks and real estate investments. Those are, in some ways, gambling as well. I know many people who have no idea what they are doing and just blindly follow someone's advise and lost their money.
I think at the root of it all, gambling in one form or another, is a problem for people who hope to change their life by taking big, miscalculated risks.
To "disrupt" the gambling industry is to inevitably profit off of addicts.
(Though, the same could be said of booze makers and alcoholics.)