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Investing has a risk and reward attached to it as does gambling.

The similarities investing can be a profitable method of generating a reasonable return over a period of time. Winning on gambling almost unlikely in the long term also provides a winning ticket holder with that added profit return along with the initial stake. Uncertain investment classes such as investing in wine, foreign exchange contracts all provide different rates of return.

The difference is the extremely high risk attached to gambling activities. A horse wager is a time event lasting 1 or 2 minutes. If the horse wins, you win the odds x your stake selected on that horse. Lose or win and the compulsive habit starts into an unwinnable long term addictive habit.

An investment in stocks and equity if having a well diversified portfolio of stocks is a relatively low risk, low return situation. The investor might profit from dividend profit distributions per stock held, and also some capital growth attached. The risk with stocks is a company not paying out dividends or the company making losses and so therefore would result in stock holding losses. Nothing in life is guaranteed to succeed in terms of business, though a investor in stocks, can benefit from research into that company, sharetips like horseracing selections are worthless. The stock market to an extent is much more volatile than it used to be. So the value of the money invested in a particular stock investment can go up as well as down.

Wagering in any form whether it be online, bingo, lottery, sports related casino wagers are very short term, the odds i.e the return is usually fixed by the market operator. The wager type selected in a number of ways i.e per horse race, soccer match etc. Each horse, soccer team will have the odds displayed in writing or on a television screen showing that selection's price. Upon the event outcome the wager is a winner or a loser.

The underlying difference is that at least using stock market investment a person's capital is repaid depending on the market value of a companies stock at a given time in the future. Using gambling back a loser and that money has gone up in smoke.

Learn more about this author, Costas Chryanthou.
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