Question: My company was asked to give a quotation for a project in a resort with a casino. Would I create bad karma if I get involved?
Answer: It is ideal to stay clear from supporting gambling in any way, as greed and loss of wealth via gambling is a potential great source of suffering for many. But perhaps you might want to check if the work needed is at the casino area. Could it be somewhere near but not exactly there? Some might view this issue this way… Since someone will be employed to do the job, it might as well be you, as you can use part of the earnings to do charity to benefit those in need and create positive karma instead. This is better than someone else taking up the job and not doing any charity at all. However, we need to note that this applies only to where there is no direct harm of any being. For example, it would be wrong to open a live seafood restaurant on the pretext of using its earnings for charity, as such profits are based on the opposite of charity and compassion; being based on cruelty instead. The direct killing involved in the business means the ‘charity’ based on it is very spiritually hypocritical.
We also need to note that the Buddha advised against trade involving weapons, humans (e.g. slavery), meat, intoxicants and poisons as unskilful or Wrong Livelihoods. However, this list of five unskilful trades might not be exhaustive as times change. As a general guideline, our occupation should be as disconnected to harm of any being as possible. Although gambling is not listed above, the Buddha did advise against gambling, saying it is a source of downfall. (See http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=2184) From this, we can infer that just as the Buddha does not support gambling, he would not support gambling or related trades.
Related Article:
Gambling or Investing?
https://moonpointer.com/new/2008/11/gambling-or-investing