I’ve worked in Land Based Casinos and transitioned to online gambling in 2001. Loot boxes are not gambling, they are worse than gambling IMO, based on 2 main reasons: 1) The odds (at least on EP) are FAR worse, if we are to equate getting something useful to real money, and 2) In casinos you mostly play and get the opportunity (if losses not recovered) to continue playing for free until you lose all or hit a good payout (e.g. chips from a lower roulette payout or coins to continue playing in slots).
With EP what you get is what you get, and money is gone. It is much harder to enjoy than playing in a Casino where you’re getting drinks and food for free or at least hit a slower payout or player bonus (online gambling). This is not a form of criticism since SG took the right step in publishing their odds and we are all supposed to be adults here. I am merely stating that gambling has been my industry forever and I can assure you the experience is way more rewarding in casinos and not comparable to the loot box experience.