I think what people are trying to say is yes they are both a form of gambling, but they are not the same thing as these carnival games potentially have, as @lamplamp stated, a bigger incentive to weigh the odds in their favor. At least with packs the odds are more streamlined so you know what you’re signing up for.
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This thread speaks to a major issue in the pokemon card collecting space that’s not discussed enough. The issue is that, especially during hype cycles, the space is rife with people trying to “hustle” each other for profit. It’s a very susceptible space to proliferation of bad actors because it is full of young and naive people but is perceived as pretty safe because… it’s Pokemon. Letting your kids attend a “Pokemon card show” sounds pretty alright. You aren’t expecting them to get hustled by carnies. Realistically, this has always been part of pokemon card collecting since the one-sided trades going down in the schoolyard led to dad-fights but its now exploded 1000x into people openly and proudly scamming children all across the country. Honestly if these games and mystery products were limited to 21+, I’d have less of an issue - although that’s only a partial solution.
Back to the issue of “carnival games” at card shows, this isn’t only a thing at card shows but for some reason it’s widely accepted there. Look at the chance listings all over eBay. Mystery bags, coin flipping, WhatNot games, even dice rolling (if someone wants to dice roll you and pulls out their own set of dice - walk away). Just like like “giveaways” and raffles where you don’t get evidence of the prize actually being awarded. It’s extremely shady and often illegal, but there’s no enforcement, and it’s highly profitable. It’s all out in the open and an accepted part of “the hobby” because the downsides and victim stories are not as algorithm friendly.
What it really is, at its worst, is people taking advantage of a lack of enforcement of gambling regulations. These regulations are very strict, and for good reason, but hard to enforce. Games of chance run by reputable companies usually involve lawyers drafting contest terms with disclosure as to odds of winning that comply with regulations that ensure they are generally fair and not predatory. That does not happen at card shows or on whatnot.
There’s also just a general cultural notion in the space where people making profit are viewed as successful winners. If you’re earning money, you’re doing something right. The people responsible don’t see it as wrong. There’s zero guilt. Nevermind the fact that your dirty profits are derived from taking advantage of children and skirting gambling laws.
The whole thing is a major turn off for me personally. Also, frankly, the profitability of these games is partly what drives the exploding markets that lots of us are selling into…
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Well said. I’m surprised this isn’t more of an issue and, in some cases, I’ve seen people actually defend this. They’re straight-up ripping off kids/the uninformed and I’m sorry, but I’m not cool with it. And don’t hit me with the “ripping packs is the same thing” argument. No, it’s not. People are intentionally packing “mystery boxes” with a bunch of shit cards and then selling them to kids. That is not even in the same universe as opening packs.
Edit - this isn’t directed at you @meta in case it read that way
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Not at all!
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I don’t go to many conventions but I do go to CACKC every year with a few buddies. Each year the amount of ‘gimmick’ vendors continues to increase and the convention keeps shifting further away from the actual buying and selling of collectibles. Last year it was pretty ridiculous.
Many of the vendors were doing the whole carnival circus game things, creating ‘content’ or just selling items that had nothing to do with collectibles. There was literally a vinyl siding company that had a table 
We are going to go again this year but we decided that if it’s not any better we aren’t going to waste our time & money going anymore. I have to imagine many are thinking the same thing.
In an ideal world organizers of these conventions put restrictions on the types of vendors allowed. Realistically, that won’t happen if people continue buying tickets though so I’m not going to hold my breath.
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