The people they were defrauding had money to lose in the first place. Such is not the case of the greatest fraud of all time presently taking place in the global economy, and the 'fools' being parted from their money are the simple, basically decent, trusting, ordinary people of the world, who are obliged to work for a living. The Sting goes something like this. The media, now staffed by capitalist groupies paid to glorify these people, fawn over the speculators and call them 'players'.
Life is but a game, tra-la.
Greed is good. The sting is made possible because most of the 'money' the 'players' gamble with doesn't actually exist. It's pretend money, credit money extended to them by various banks, and ultimately the international bankers. They don't lend money at all. But back to the Sting.