- Gambling Vs Investing Advice
- Gambling Vs Investing For Dummies
- Gambling Vs Investing Stocks
- Gambling Vs Investing Reddit
Gambling carries much more risk than investing and serves to boost the profits of the casino owner or the player. Investing, on the other hand, arguably provides much more benefit to society. Of course, owners and investors still stand to make profit, but through their actions, local, national and worldwide economies can prosper. Gambling is defined differently than investing. Whether you want to call an investment high risk and you want to say that risk. You know, I don’t like putting money into gold. I think it’s a bad place to put money, but I don’t call it gambling. It’s an ultra-high risk, volatile investment, but it’s not gambling. Difference Between Investing and Gambling. Some people confuse investing with gambling. This is one good reason it’s important to differentiate and compartmentalize saving, investing, and gambling. Most gambling involves risking capital and dividing a fixed amount among winners and losers based on chance. Gambling is a time-bound practice, but stock investing can last several years. In gambling, once the game or hand is over, your chances to make more profit from your wager are closed. But in stock investing, you have good chances of making more profit as the years roll.
Can you explain the difference between gambling and investing? Thanks in advance.
Thank you for your e-mail and question about the differences between gambling and investing. There are a number of Christian authors who have addressed this issue (Norm Geisler, Tony Evans, Gary North, etc.).
Briefly let me say that there are some similarities, and there are people who get addicted to high risk investing just like gambling. So I would acknowledge there are some similarities between the two.
But the key issue is that there are some striking differences. Investors research an investment with the goal of lowering the risks and making a wise investment. Gambling is all about risk and the odds cannot be lowered by further research (except for those who can modify the odds of blackjack by card counting or something like that).
The goal of investing is to build up a company and portfolio. Even if it’s done selfishly, it still can have a positive effect on the company and the economy. Gambling takes money out of the capital economy. It doesn’t contribute to job creation, etc. As I argue in my transcript on gambling, gambling actually hurts a local economy and increases social costs (abuse, neglect, bankruptcy).
Most investing is done with discretionary income and with certain limits (amount of stock that can be bought on margin, debt load allowed by a lender, etc.). Most gambling is not done with discretionary income. Money that should go for food, rent, clothing is often risked in a “get-rich-quick” scheme.
So while I would acknowledge that investing and gambling have some similarities, the differences make the difference. If you are interested, I would encourage you to read some additional material by some of the authors I mentioned.
Thanks for writing.
Kerby Anderson
Probe Ministries
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Investing in the stock market and gambling at a casino are often compared and deemed to be very similar ventures. Both the difference between investment and gambling involve risk and choice in hopes of future profit. Investors and gamblers have to decide how much they are wanting to risk.
Some traders typically risk between 2% and 5% of their capital base. Long-term investors often spread their money across different investments in order to try and minimize potential losses as a form of risk-management.
Risk-management in gambling is also proficiently sought after by professional gamblers. They look at whether odds are in their favor before they make a bet. A key comparable principle in both gambling and financial investing is to minimize risk while maximizing profits.
Difference Between Investment and Gambling
However, there is a huge difference between investing and gambling when it comes to stopping losses. In gambling, particularly in sports gambling, there are no loss-mitigation strategies due to the activity being so speculative.
Gambling Vs Investing Advice
Stock investors however can set up stop losses on a stock investment which is the simplest way to avoid unnecessary risk. If stock drops 10% below its purchase price there is an opportunity to sell that stock to someone else and still retain 90% of the risk capital.
However, if you put a bet on that states that Tottenham Hotspur Football Club will come first in the Premier League, you cannot get any money back if they come second. You will lose everything you’ve put on, which isn’t the case when it comes to stock investment. Gambling is mainly to do with pure chance, and there are a lot more loss-mitigation strategies when it comes to financial investments.
Time is another difference when it comes to comparing financial investments and gambling. Gambling is a time-bound event whereas financial investing can last several years if not longer. Some companies that pay dividends even reward investors that have purchased shares in the companies for risking their money.
As long as you hold onto their stock, companies can pay you money. But when you’re gambling, you either win or lose your capital – there is no in-between.
The way both investors and gamblers play the odds and try to look for an edge to help enhance their performance is a huge similarity between them. When it comes to gambling, particularly games such as blackjack and poker, players often study behavior, mannerisms and patterns in order to gain useful information which will help them when it comes to their own betting.
Gambling Vs Investing For Dummies
Stock investors study trading patterns by interpreting stock charts in order to accurately predict where the business might be going in the future. However there is a difference in terms of how much information is available to both investors and gamblers. Information is valuable when it comes to both sectors, but stock and company information is always readily available and in the public domain.
Gambling Vs Investing Stocks
Unsurprisingly, there is a limited amount of information when it comes to gambling. Sitting down at a poker or blackjack table in a casino gives you next to no information other than whispers about whether the table is hot or cold – all of which is relative to the other tables in the room. Essentially, gamblers go in almost blind other than from the information they can read and know about the players around them.
Gambling Vs Investing Reddit
Although the idea that investing and gambling are somewhat similar isn’t untrue, there are far more differences that similarities when it comes down to aspects of information and time. Both involve risk and revolve around maximizing profit, but in general, investors have a much better chance at success than gamblers.