Verb

gambling

1. Present participle of gamble.

Noun

Singular gambling

Plural gamblings

gambling (plural gamblings)

1. An activity characterised by a balance between winning and losing that is governed by a mixture of skill and chance.

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period.

The term gaming in this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law. The two words are not mutually exclusive; i.e., a “gaming” company offers (legal) “gambling” activities to the public. This distinction is not universally observed in the English-speaking world, however. For instance, in the UK, the regulator of gambling activities is called the Gambling Commission (not the Gaming Commission). Also, the word gaming is frequently used to describe activities that do not involve wagering, especially online.

Quotes about/related to Gambling

Sourced

• Gambling is risk-taking. It might be said the owner of a casino gambles, takes risks, but he has the odds in his favour, so that’s intelligent gambling. If I wanted to gamble, I’d buy the casino.
  • John Paul Getty. From his interview with Alan Whicker, as quoted in his book, Within Whicker’s World (1982)

• When you’re betting and you win, naturally you have that satisfaction, and the profit.
  • George Soros, From an interview with Niall Ferguson, in the Channel 4 television series, The Ascent of Money, broadcast on 22nd December 2008

• That the chance of gain is naturally over-valued, we may learn from the universal success of lotteries.
  • Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Unsourced

• Capitalism is the joy of gambling.
  • Anonymous

• [Gambling] is a way of throwing money down the toilet without people calling you insane.
  • Anonymous

• [Gambling] is the sure way of getting nothing for something.
  • Wilson Mizner

• The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the business known as gambling.
  • Ambrose Bierce

• The lottery: a tax on people who flunked math.
  • Monique Lloyd

• The lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.
  • A bumper sticker

• There is nothing that wears out a fine face like the vigils of the card-table, and those cutting passions which naturally attend them. Hollow eyes, haggard looks and pale complexions are the natural indications.
  • Steele

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Thu Jan 7 16:48:52 2010