Re: Is poker gambling?
Is the person that owns the roulette wheel gambling?
If the definition of gambling is 'putting money into an uncertain outcome', then all stocks, all business, almost all investments (real estate, gold, oil) become defined as gambling.
The usage I use is long term expectation. I don't consider puttin money into the S&P 'gambling' because I have every reason to believe that it will show a profit long-term.
Poker is the same way. Every pit game and lottery requires participants to 'gambool'..the participants (the gamblers) play the game trying to BEAT the odds. The casino isn't trying to beat the odds, the odds are working for them. I don't think what they are doing is gambling (they are offering a venue for OTHERS to gamble). There hasn't ever been a craps table or roulette wheel or slot machine used for any significant period of time that's lost money without being cheated. It's as sure an investment as any there is from the casino's view.
A winning poker player is doing much the same thing, if he's doing it right.
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