As we await the implementation of a more dynamic economy, it seems to me that, in the interest of economic realism, the game should include some of the less respectable forms of economy. We already have player to player trades of weapons, power cells, etc. We already have piracy. Why not add other forms of 'underworld economy'?
I'm talking about gambling and black market sales. I'll deal with these ideas individually.

Gambling - Nobody really uses the tube tracks anymore, but what if betting on races was big business? At the very least, it might be an interesting waste of time to go to the tracks, bet on a race full of NPCs and/or players, and have fun winning or losing. That would be a possible place for LEGAL gambling in VO. Of course, there is and will always be ILLEGAL gambling. Players could wager on anything they wanted to, from the Deneb Run to who will win in a duel, or whatever. The devs would need to add some sort of roaming law enforcement bots that, if they caught you gambling in a sector they were patrolling, would make you temporarily kos for whatever faction/nation they are employed by, just like in real life.

Black market sales - This would basically involve sales of items/weapons/ships to players who either don't have the required licenses to buy the items or don't have sufficient faction standing. For instance, if a player wanted to buy a Prom, but was hated by Serco, they could go to a black market dealer and buy a Prom (for a greatly inflated price, I'm sure). However, the sale would also diminish the SELLER'S Serco standing significantly enough to make black market sales a dangerous endeavor. Black market sellers would have to work to keep faction standing high enough to have access to high-profile goods/ships/weapons.

Just a thought worth talking about. Sorry if it's been suggested before.

resounding no.

I like the idea of gambling in some of the grey-space station bars and the racetracks. I'm not thrilled about the law enforcement idea though.

gambling, even in an online game, is walking a thin line of legality.

it also encourages bad gambling habits.

vo isn't a place to encourage such activities, imo. it's better off keeping at it's murderous rampage and... hrm... damn... i need different arguments...

besides, if i wanted poker, i'd go on a poker site.

Some kind of built in wagering system would be great, but it's not neccesary. I'll bookie the next deneb run, without built in game functionality!

I think black markets for ships are inevitable as well, I think someone said it's coming. Once we can load ships into bigger ships as cargo, selling them will be normal, like weapons are now.