How long did it take you to realize that you were a gambler?

[themickey]

Gambling is like gaming, you're in it for the pleasure, the challenge, anticipation of outcomes and exercise of skills.
The difference between a degenerate, they lack discipline and a well thought out plan which is where skill comes in.

 

[wrbtrader]

Agree with everything in this post.
But there are some or many on ET who still insist trading is not gambling.
The only logical reason I can think they are in this denial imo, because they dont want to admit to friends, wife, gf, they gamble. To them, gamblers are degenerates and therefore wish to distance themselves from this public perception that gamblers will end up sooner or later in the gutter.

For trading to be gambling...it must then become an addiction for whatever reason.

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Your gambling goes from a fun, harmless diversion to an unhealthy obsession with serious consequences. Whether you bet on sports, scratch cards, roulette, poker, or slots—in a casino, at the track, or online—a gambling problem can strain your relationships, interfere with work, and lead to financial disaster. You may even do things you never thought you would, like running up huge debts or even stealing money to gamble.

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It's interesting that in the above explanation about realization someone is a gambler...the stealing money aspect.

I view it as someone that use credit card money, borrows money from family / friends, people that call it quits but return as soon as they have more money, people no longer trading but continue to hang out at trading forums, people that have been trading for many years without having a profitable year but they continue to think they're close to finding that indicator / trade method that will make them rich...

If any of the above describes what someone is doing with their trading...it then is gambling.

Just the same, if someone is doing the above with their investing too...investing is gambling too.

Make no mistake...losing traders and profitable traders can be gamblers if it doesn't allow them to have a healthy life. Yet, if someone wants to really dig deep into the trading / gambling question...they need to look at other aspects in their personal life to see what else is it that they're doing to could be consider gambling.

• I have a golden rule, if someone you care about or cares about you is complaining about your trading...most likely you have a problem.

wrbtrader

 

[GrowleyMonster]

Gambling is not defined by a certain morality or character weakness. Addiction is not part of the definition of gambling. The two are commonly associated and addiction is a potential side effect. Sort of like alcohol, or food, or tobacco, or many other substances or activities. If you are taking some chance, and either win or lose depending on the outcome, it is gambling, whether you are or think you are or others think you are addicted, or not.

 

[themickey]

For trading to be gambling...it must then become an addiction for whatever reason.
wrbtrader

Yeah, that's another problem, thinking that gambling is addictive.

One may as well conclude that sport is addictive, playing cards is addictive, going to the race track is addictive.

Reading ET and participating on ET is addictive, wrbtrader, you have 8000 odd posts here, you are addicted, go seek help, you are caught in the clutch of addictive sin, its bad for you and you are destined to a life of misery.
Oh but wait a minute, I trade daily, weekly, for years now and its not addictive....?
Yes, trading is addictive but its not gambling. Lmao

 

[CharlesS]

Gambling is a confusing metaphor because it includes both games of pure chance, like slot machines, and games of skill that involve probabilities, like poker.

"Trading is a kind of card-game" is more apt, though un-sonorous.

 

[wrbtrader]

Yeah, that's another problem, thinking that gambling is addictive.

One may as well conclude that sport is addictive, playing cards is addictive, going to the race track is addictive.

Reading ET and participating on ET is addictive, wrbtrader, you have 8000 odd posts here, you are addicted, go seek help, you are caught in the clutch of addictive sin, its bad for you and you are destined to a life of misery.
Oh but wait a minute, I trade daily, weekly, for years now and its not addictive....?
Yes, trading is addictive but its not gambling. Lmao

Here are my addictions: Comic book collection, vintage photography equipment, signed photography books, winter hiking / camping and girlfriend's nude body.

• Girlfriend jokes all the time via telling me I have an addiction to her body because I over-indulge. She uses that to her advantage because she knows I know she's right.

Elitetrader.com is not one of my addictions but I do think it can be for some people.

Back to trading. Of course trading is a form of gambling just like investing is a form of gambling. Anytime someone puts money on a trade / investment even if they did their homework and understand the probability / statistics while someone else is doing the same for a different outcome...both betting their trade / investment is the right and the other person that's doing something different is wrong.

• You're gambling.

The issue to me when does it become a problem (as in an addiction) ? Someone that ignores that possibility in trading is most likely someone that will ignore risk of ruin in trading.

Now back to the joking side...Elitetrader.com has no impact on my financial life / personal life nor yours.

Therefore, it can not involve gambling but it can involve an addiction that's no different than someone that has an addiction to watch pornography, online gaming or horse betting.

• My point, gambling can lead to an addiction. In contrast, addiction does not lead to an gambling.

Another way to look at it...I've seen people go to a casino, put a coin in the machine, pull down the lever and win $100 - 500 dollars.

They had just gamble. Yet, they never did it again...they took their money, walk away and bragged about that casino trip for the rest of their lives.

Obviously for them its not an addiction but they did gamble one time in their life and got lucky to win $100 - 500 dollars.

With that said, when I first began to trade...I did not view it as gambling. Today, obviously my view about trading / investing as a form of gambling has changed...neither trading nor investing has become an addiction for me. I'm just too busy with other things that are in fact an addiction (healthy addiction if there's such a thing).

Once in awhile, I do change my view about trading as not gambling but then revert back to the gambling aspect.

wrbtrader

 

[themickey]

Here are my addictions: Comic book collection, vintage photography equipment, signed photography books, winter hiking / camping and girlfriend's nude body.

• Girlfriend jokes all the time via telling me I have an addiction to her body because I over-indulge. She uses that to her advantage because she knows I know she's right.

Elitetrader.com is not one of my addictions but I do think it can be for some people......
wrbtrader

I'm gonna tease you here about denial.
Conservatively as a guess for every 10 threads you click on, you post one reply.
That means you have read minimum +80,000 threads on ET.
Now how many comic books have you collected?
How often do you go hiking?
Not 80,000 times!
Moving on.........

We have frequent long weekends (bank holidays) each year in summer, that means no trading for a least 3 days in a row.
It annoys the hell out of me long weekends as no trading and I can feel very bored at times, the days are long and slow.
Is trading my addiction? Too right! - Trading and gambling - aaaahhh love it.
Although I don't place trades every day, I watch intently for opportunities.

At least ET doesn't shut down, that would really send me off the deep end.

 

[wrbtrader]

I'm gonna tease you here about denial.
Conservatively as a guess for every 10 threads you click on, you post one reply.
That means you have read minimum +80,000 threads on ET.
Now how many comic books have you collected?
How often do you go hiking?
Not 80,000 times!
Moving on.........

We have frequent long weekends (bank holidays) each year in summer, that means no trading for a least 3 days in a row.
It annoys the hell out of me long weekends as no trading and I can feel very bored at times, the days are long and slow.
Is trading my addiction? Too right! - Trading and gambling - aaaahhh love it.
Although I don't place trades every day, I watch intently for opportunities.

At least ET doesn't shut down, that would really send me off the deep end.

I think you meant how many times have I read the same comic book ?

How many times do I recheck my camping gear in preparation for a winter hiking / camping trip ?

How many times do I fly around the world to get a signed photography book by the author even if I paid less than $100 dollars for the book because I know the author is going to be at a book signing event when I do not know the author's home address to just mail the book to him / her so that it can be mailed back to me (signed) ?

• Short Answer: Its excessive and its addictive.

By the way, I have a lot of people on ignore...many of them start threads at Elitetrader.com and reading a thread is very different than clicking on a thread. A majority of the threads I click on...I do not read beyond the first few messages in the thread. Another issue, I can tell what the thread is all about from the title of the thread and can determine if the thread is even worth clicking on for entertainment purposes only.

• Once I posted an educational thread here at ET. After about +20 pages...I made a decision to discontinue the thread after the first 2 months of inactive posting in the thread. I did just that...a few years later a bullshit ET troll activated the thread and I then had Baron close the thread to minimize the mudslinging in the thread because I knew the ET troll had a false interest in the thread.

My point with the above little story, if ET becomes an addiction one day...I'll post info that's educational and in private message...not public. It's a very nice feature that Baron created for those that have something useful to say without the trolling or antagonistic posting.

Also, many people complain that I take too many days off from trading, too many 3 day weekends, shut down too early, if my broker or charting service are having connection problems...you will rarely see me complaining about such because I see it as an opportunity to relax and do other personal things in life.

Last of all, if a trading forum becomes an addiction...its time for you to get a hobby and the exception is if the trading forum is useful to your trading.

wrbtrader

 

[Teryc20]

I always knew that forex is anything but gambling, and I haven't faced any gambling issues, so it is a no for me

 

[fredfrazier]

I think trading and gambling are different. Gambling is a very negative word as compared to trading. Such realizations only happen when you lose your money. And I hope nothing like that happened with you. Trading is a better term and a better option than gambling.