Perhaps it will help the concerned or confused amongst us if I point out that the /roll command was a carryover from back in the day when we did not have automatic distribution (tagging) of dropped items. There is a certain staff member at ArenaNet who developed the amazing ability to nab items before they hit the ground. Without the reservation system, those of us playing less frenetically, or those of us (like me) playing the ranged classes would be left out of nearly all loot drops.
So, the designers added /roll so that we could, civilly and with composure, sort out to whom the item should be given. And it worked very well indeed. When we added the automatic drop reservation system, the /roll remained. I think it was a nice thing to have if, for instance, you were playing Warrior and a wand dropped and two people said "I'd like that wand." You'd type /roll and the number of the party member that came up would be the recipient of the item. No hurt feelings, no tough decisions.
I certainly didn't anticipate that we'd see the proliferation of in-game casinos. And when I saw them, I didn't imagine that so many would be rife with scams and other harmful influences. Now that the potential for (and, sadly, the actuality of) abuse is more clear, we have acted in the interests of the community in closing the casinos.
We may consider offering an NPC or other in-game system for gambling. Would that make us hypocritical? Of course not! Closing casinos wasn't a statement on casinos or gambling. It was a statement made and a promise kept to maintain a game world free of abuse and the exploitation of other players, to the best of our ability. If a gambling option is added to Guild Wars, it will offer a fair system from which exploitation is precluded. The decision on that is up to the designers, of course, with our thanks for the valuable suggestions and the valid reports offered on this whole subject.