We need a robust response to these irrational checks

What is going on exactly with this interference into private individuals’ right to spend their money any way that they see fit?

Exactly what gives the provider of a service the right to ask for proof from the customer that they are acting within their means, unless they are supplying the customer with substantial financial assistance such as a mortgage?

If there is evidence that supports the charge that gambling is an over-whelming drain on the state and an individual's life, shouldn’t this evidence be sufficiently robust to lead beyond reasonable doubt to that conclusion? The evidence published on the government’s website suggests not.