Is trading Gambling or not .."What say You" Vote here.
- Thread starter ElectricSavant
- Start date
A trader who equates trading with gambling is a 99-1 shot at succeeding. His mind-set is not logical enough to differentiate between "strategic risk" and "hoping to win against the odds".
Logic and discipline are the keys to trading success. (It's obvious that few ET posters have formal training in "logic and deductive reasoning" or have discovered it on their own.)
Logic and discipline are the keys to trading success. (It's obvious that few ET posters have formal training in "logic and deductive reasoning" or have discovered it on their own.)
Fine. Just be cognizant of the fact that you are laboring under the weight of your own, personal definition of the term. Apart from that, you will be pleased to know that your "logic and deductive reasoning" are fairly sound.
As an aside, you will note that, among the people who voted, the ratio is just over 2:1 at this moment in favor of the view that trading is not gambling. Interestingly, however, you suggested that relatively few people here exhibit "logic and deductive reasoning." Assuming that the poll results are somewhat representative of the ET membership, would you care to draw any broad, preliminary conclusions, deductions or inferences from these two observations?
I don't know if any of you has driven a car in Vegas recently, but I honestly feel that I'm taking much more risk to and from the office than on any table or trade. 24 hour booze, 100,000 "out of towners" every day....construction everywhere, and today it rained for the first time in months....geez....
Don
Don
Why don't you open a casino?
omniscient
Guest
Quote from Thunderdog:
As an aside, you will note that, among the people who voted, the ratio is just over 2:1 at this moment in favor of the view that trading is not gambling. Interestingly, however, you suggested that relatively few people here exhibit "logic and deductive reasoning." Assuming that the poll results are somewhat representative of the ET membership, would you care to draw any broad, preliminary conclusions, deductions or inferences from these two observations?
my suspicion is:
1. most who responded it is gambling do gamble in the markets; the others don't gamble in the markets but assume that most do
2. part of the group who voted it isn't gambling gamble in the markets but are trying to convince themselves they are not gambling
3. other part of the group who voted it isn't gambling don't gamble in the markets, but instead trade the markets
something else to consider is the split in general membership at ET. don't have numbers for it, but it is basically split between traders seeking help/insight/information and those seeking to share help/insight/information. i use the term 'traders' losely. i know the common perception here is that 99% of ET members don't trade. i really doubt it, but if that is anywhere near accurate, well, then it's all a wash
take care
omni
Gambling is playing a game when the odds of success are less than 50:50, i.e. casino gambling. Speculating is playing a game when the odds of success are greater than 50:50, i.e. trading a proven system using correct money management parameters and strong personal discipline. When a trader is using a proven system he is essentially rolling loaded dice and will make money over time as long as he keeps his risk exposure low - in the 1 to 2 % range per trade. While every trade considered by itself will be forever uncertain in the short-term, the trader's long-term success will be assured if he has the guts and confidence to follow a proven system religiously. Unfortunately, not too many traders seem to have developed the "right stuff" to do this and end up losing money by gambling instead of making money by speculating intelligently. Trading is a very hard business and many traders seem unwilling to invest the many years it takes to evolve from gambling and losing money to speculating and earning a great living.
Not quite, play poker and you can play a pos. expectation game (i.e. GAMBLE) yet you still need ~50-percent chance of good luck (or favorable) conditions as traders like to say.
Even mergers and ac. arb is a gamble and they have the odds stacked in their fav. sometimes by inside info....
There are no 'sure things' then it is a gamble....
Even mergers and ac. arb is a gamble and they have the odds stacked in their fav. sometimes by inside info....
There are no 'sure things' then it is a gamble....
Quote from Don Bright:
I don't know if any of you has driven a car in Vegas recently, but I honestly feel that I'm taking much more risk to and from the office than on any table or trade. 24 hour booze, 100,000 "out of towners" every day....construction everywhere, and today it rained for the first time in months....geez....
Don
By some of the definitions of gambling here ("Anything that's not a 'sure thing' is a gamble"), then driving to the office WOULD be gambling.
To understand the true meaning of gambling, one needs to look no further than Vegas. The patrons "gamble" because they are hoping to prevail against odds which are against them.... and there's nothing they can do bo put the odds in their favor. To the house it's not gambling but a "business"... because the odds favor them. Large numbers of chances (bets) means they are guaranteed to win in the long run.
For traders who perceive the market as gambling, the best thing they could possibly do is stop trading... immediately... because in the long run the odds are 9999/10000 that they will go bust.