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FAQ Is Trading the Same as Gambling?

A gamble V's an educated risk:

If I gave you odds of a man crossing a road at 10 to 1 would you take the bet?
Answer: A gambler probably would.

But, an educated risk taker would want to know how many times the man has done this task, is it night or day, wet or dry, the speed of the cars, how many vehicles are there, how big is the road and so on.

The educated risk taker will take the risk that should he be satisfied with the answers he sought out, ie, all (or most) conditions good and the man is an expert at crossing roads, still does not mean the man will not slip up or a black swan swoops down and knocks him off his feet. Therefore the man taking the educated risk will do so using only a small portion of what he can allow to lose so that he may put some money down on the next opportunity when it arises.

In simple terms, gambling is very distinct against taking an educated risk. Those who blur this line are still clearly in the gambling camp and worse still, in denial.
Naturally the more informed one is in a situation, the more favorable the outcome can be to them.

We all know that knowledge is power.

Regards,
Anon1
 
well per the above definition I am a GAMBLER.

and here I thought I was a conservative speculator who bet the house when the odds favored my winning.
 
With all due respect, the first you have to do is to clearly define your goals, if you want to bet, you can go to any sportsbook or to las vegas, learn your risks, manage your equity and decide how much you will loose, after learning as much statiscs as you can manage, if you want to trade learn trading, this is not the same as gambling, it takes a lot more than to only prettend to decide a bet..., this is about making money, which will not be done betting..., for your case, if you like gambling you can choose binary options, which is still not the same but pretty much alike
 
Is Trading the Same as Gambling?

I think the honest answer is YES of course trading is gambling.

and for those who disagree I have this to say.

Most people dont want to know the truth because they fear their dream will be destroyed....

I guess it depends on if one wants to see the similarities or the differences. Naturally a gaming casino is different from a trading casino. in the trading casino one loses his money much faster and with less fun more pain.
 
You cannot consider Forex as Gambling as Gambling depends upon luck and Forex trading depends upon the market condition. There may be uncertainty sometimes in Forex Trading but through proper knowledge you can make most of it.
 
it is the right answer

Yes and no. Depends on who you ask not a dictionary definition.

Positive expectancy and money management to minimize falling to gambler's ruin some would still consider a gamble, but many a fortune has been based on just such a method.

Yes or no depends upon whom you are asking. I like it. Many a time people use to ask me the same question now I have the answer.
 
I started trading looking at it as if it was "gambling".. now I'm trying to "study" it so that is considered differtly, more like a job.
 
I think trading is similar to gambling in some aspects and you have to learn how to manage your trading instruments and its risk to decrease the loss and gain profit.
 
Nope its not gambling

The chart moves technically and a seasoned trader knows how much movement will occur, when will occur and why will occur. The fact is that almost 99% times, the chart moves as the experienced trader says because the movement is based on a specific pattern while in gambling you have 100% chance of loss/profit. You totally depend on luck. In forex, you don't totally depend on luck but your skill and experience tells you what to do now. There is no experience or skill in gambling, just luck.

But it should be cleared that forex is only be considered gambling if one doesn't understand or watch market and chart. He just blindly trigger trades can be called as gambling because he is totally playing on his luck.
 
But if you only have a 1% chance of loss, that's gambling. The outcome is not certain. Its skillful work, but its still gambling.
 
Yeah, it seems pretty much similar to me. I mean, in forex you can count on luck and go blindly, or you can learn patterns and start to understand relations. AND, in gambling you might just bet randomly or you can study statistics and some previously displayed results. The only difference is that trading gives you an illusion of control, especially after first couple succesfull cases, whereas in gambling you always realise volatility of your achievments. Still, it's only my opinion as a novice trader, you're welcome to indicate my errors.
 
Yeah, it seems pretty much similar to me. I mean, in forex you can count on luck and go blindly, or you can learn patterns and start to understand relations. AND, in gambling you might just bet randomly or you can study statistics and some previously displayed results. The only difference is that trading gives you an illusion of control, especially after first couple succesfull cases, whereas in gambling you always realise volatility of your achievments. Still, it's only my opinion as a novice trader, you're welcome to indicate my errors.

The trader has no control over the hand he's dealt (by the market) but he is and must be in complete control of how he plays it. The chief problem with nearly all beginners is that they haven't taken the time to study the market and have no idea how it works. Therefore they have no idea how to play the hands they're dealt. They think they can "learn by doing", and so go on year after year, victimizing themselves with intermittent positive reinforcement -- just enough to keep them feeding the nickel slots -- and wasting time which could be devoted to more productive pursuits.

. . . so many of the 90% who fail at trading never intended to be traders at all; they just wanted to be lucky winners and stop trading asap. Makes me feel actually a bit better about the high loser percentage - they didn't fail at conscientious, industrious, dedicated trading; they failed at trying to get lucky. (tomorton)

Db
 
Is trading the same as gambling?

Yes Yes Yes same highs same lows

then you realise you can count cards and you can use a computer to do it then you become an advantaged selective gambler
 
The trader has no control over the hand he's dealt (by the market) but he is and must be in complete control of how he plays it. The chief problem with nearly all beginners is that they haven't taken the time to study the market and have no idea how it works. Therefore they have no idea how to play the hands they're dealt. They think they can "learn by doing", and so go on year after year, victimizing themselves with intermittent positive reinforcement -- just enough to keep them feeding the nickel slots -- and wasting time which could be devoted to more productive pursuits.

. . . so many of the 90% who fail at trading never intended to be traders at all; they just wanted to be lucky winners and stop trading asap. Makes me feel actually a bit better about the high loser percentage - they didn't fail at conscientious, industrious, dedicated trading; they failed at trying to get lucky. (tomorton)

Db

An interesting point. But how does one truly learn other than by his own experience and failure? I could read this whole forum and still be a complete newbie when it comes to practical questions like what to buy and what to sell. Not like there is a book (or books) which you could read and be ready for trading. And if there was one, I would have been shocked!:LOL:
 
An interesting point. But how does one truly learn other than by his own experience and failure? I could read this whole forum and still be a complete newbie when it comes to practical questions like what to buy and what to sell. Not like there is a book (or books) which you could read and be ready for trading. And if there was one, I would have been shocked!:LOL:

One learns the same way the best have always learned, by studying the market, understanding the dynamics of demand and supply, that is, why price goes up and down. As to reading this whole forum, you'd learn pretty much everything you need to know by studying what Tim Wilcox (timsk) has suggested, but few beginners do, which helps to account for the high failure rate.

Read a book and be ready for trading? No.

Read a book and learn how to observe, how to formulate and test a hypothesis, how to maintain records of observations and tests, how to assemble all of that into a consistently-profitable trading plan? Yes.

All of this has been available for twenty years to anyone with an internet connection, and for decades before that to anyone with a library card.

Db
 
One learns the same way the best have always learned, by studying the market, understanding the dynamics of demand and supply, that is, why price goes up and down. As to reading this whole forum, you'd learn pretty much everything you need to know by studying what Tim Wilcox (timsk) has suggested, but few beginners do, which helps to account for the high failure rate.

Read a book and be ready for trading? No.

Read a book and learn how to observe, how to formulate and test a hypothesis, how to maintain records of observations and tests, how to assemble all of that into a consistently-profitable trading plan? Yes.

All of this has been available for twenty years to anyone with an internet connection, and for decades before that to anyone with a library card.

Db

Lack of viable and useful information isn't a problem, finding it in a mess of Internet is. Especially for a newcomer like myself. For example, now thanks to you I know a couple of threads and a person (Tim Wilcox) to look after. So it basically equals to me reading a book like I mentioned earlier. But where and how should I "learn how to observe, how to formulate and test a hypothesis, how to maintain records of observations and tests, how to assemble all of that into a consistently-profitable trading plan"? It seems like a complicated task that's not solved by mere reading books and forums. So, what next step would you advice?
 
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