Risk: "Not To Gamble" vs. Jockey Club

I was taking a bus from Kennedy to Causeway Bay. I was looking out from the window, and I noticed the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Many people were in there, buying numbers. The customers were from young to old. I paid particular attention to this because I was just reading about a news a week ago on the Jockey Club complaint about loosing the younger clients As  I was looking, I saw a small probably A4 size poster that was pasted to the glass. It was written in Chinese, and it went like this, "Do Not Get Hooked By Gambling!". The next poster to it was an ad for the Jockey Club, about horse racing and numbers.

Was it cool? Or was it sarcastic? Ironically, the advice on "Not To Gamble!" was put at the entrance to the Jockey Club, people who went in this place except for the staffs most likely were to gamble. What a good place to put an ad, really! It basically targeted the right crowd. But I wonder how many people paid any attention to the paper that was sticking there.

People know the consequences of gambling. But people still do it, regardless the warning preceding it.

People take risk. Especially in bad habits, such as smoking, drinking, and gambling. Why? Is the warning not clear enough? Or is it perception that plays tricks in human mind?

What would be an effective way to stop people from bad habits? How could we stop people from jumping into the fire, or people who risk their lives to devil? Is it simply telling them the truth would be enough?

Would slamming a bag of cigarette to the face of a smoker, and tell him that he is going to dye of lung cancer in 25years later make a smoker quit smoking?

This is really something that we need to think about.