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Gambling

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Gambling has had many different meanings depending on the cultural and historical context in which it is used. Currently, in western society, it generally has an economic definition and meaning and typically refers to "wagering money or something of material value on something with an uncertain outcome in hope of winning additional money or material goods". Furthermore:

• the outcome of the wager is typically evident within a short period of time
• the primary intent of the bet is to win additional money or material goods

This definition of gambling usually excludes:

• emotional or physical risk-taking where what is being risked is not money or material goods (e.g., skydiving, running for office, asking someone for a date, etc.)
• buying insurance, as the primary intent of the purchase is to protect against loss, rather than to collect or win
• all forms of long-term 'investment' (stock market, real estate) with positive expected returns and economic utility
• starting a new business, as time and effort are also being wagered and the outcome is not determined in a short period of time
• situations where the possibility of winning additional money or material goods is a secondary or incidental reason for the wager/purchase (e.g., buying a raffle ticket to support a worthy cause)

Gambling varies on four dimensions:

• 1. What is being wagered (money or material goods).
• 2. How much is being wagered.
• 3. The predictability of the event. For some things such as lotteries, slot machines and bingo, the results are random and unpredictable. No skill or system will give you any advantage. For other things such as sports betting and horse racing there is some predictability to the outcome. In this situation greater knowledge and skill gives a person an advantage over other bettors.
• 4. The 'expected value', the positive or negative mathematical expectation.

Legal aspects

Because religious authorities generally frown on gambling to some extent, and because of various perceived social costs, most legal jurisdictions censure gambling to some extent. Islamic nations officially prohibit gambling; most other countries regulate it. In particular, in the majority of circumstances - and perhaps all cases - the law does not recognise wagers as contracts, and views any consequent losses as debts of honour, unenforceable by legal process. Thus organized crime often takes over the enforcement of large gambling debts, sometimes using violent methods.

Because contracts of insurance have many features in common with wagers, legislation generally makes a distinction, typically defining any agreement in which either one of the parties has an interest in the outcome bet upon, beyond the specific financial terms, as a contract of insurance. Thus a bet on whether one's house will burn down becomes a contract of insurance, as one has an independent interest in the security of one's home.

Furthermore, many jurisdictions, local as well as national, either ban or heavily control (license) gambling. Such regulation generally leads to gambling tourism and illegal gambling - the latter often under the auspices of organized crime. Such involvement frequently brings the activity under even more severe moral censure and leads to calls for greater regulation. Conversely, the close involvement of governments (through regulation and gambling taxation) has led to a close connection between many governments and gambling organisations, where legal gambling provides much government revenue.

There is generally legislation requesting that the odds in gambling machines are fair (i.e. statistically random), to prevent manufacturers from making some high-payoff results impossible (since these have very low probability, this can quite easily pass unnoticed).

Psychological aspects

Though many participate in gambling as a form of recreation or even as a means to gain an income, gambling, like any behavior which involves variation in brain chemistry, can become a psychologically addictive and harmful behavior in some people. Reinforcement phenomena may also make gamblers persist in gambling even after repeated losses. Because of the negative connotations of the word "gambling", casinos and race tracks often use the euphemism "gaming" to describe the recreational gambling activities they offer.

The Russian writer Dostoevsky portrays in his short story The Gambler the psychological implications of gambling and how gambling can affect gamblers. He also associates gambling and the idea of "getting rich quick", suggesting that Russians may have a particular affinity for gambling. Dostoevsky shows the effect of betting money for the chance of gaining more in 19th-century Europe. The association between Russians and gambling has fed legends of the origins of Russian roulette.

Help for addictive gamblers

Many organizations exist to help individuals with a gambling addiction. They include Gamblers Anonymous and Gambler's Help(Australia).

Types of gambling

Casino games

"Beatable" casino games

With proper strategy, a smart player can create a positive mathematical expectation.

• Poker (Also recognised as a game of skill)
• Blackjack -- with card counting
• Video poker -- with proper pay table and/or progressive jackpot
• Pai Gow Poker and Tiles -- player-dealt
• Sports betting
• Horse racing (parimutuel)
• Slot machines -- only linked, multi-player jackpots whose prizes have reached a certain point

"Unbeatable" casino games

These have a negative expectation, players as a group will lose in the long run (unless they cheat).

• Baccarat
• Craps
• Roulette (unless physical prediction is used)
• Keno
• Casino war
• Faro (All but extinct)
• Pachinko
• Sic Bo
• Let It Ride
• 3-card Poker
• 4-card poker
• Red Dog
• Pyramid Poker
• Caribbean Stud Poker
• Spanish 21 -- without counting

Non-casino gambling games

Lottery
Mahjong
Fan-Tan
Dice-based
Backgammon
Liar's dice
Passe-dix
Hazard
Threes
Card games
Liar's poker
Bridge
Basset
Lansquenet
Piquet
Put
Coin-tossing
Head and Tail
Two-up (Australian casinos offer versions of two-up)
Confidence tricks
Three card monte
The shell game
Carnival Games
The Razzle
Hanky Pank
Penny Falls
Six-Cat
The Swinger
The Push-up Bottle
The Nail Joint
Con Games (in bars)
Put and Take
The Smack
The Drunken Mitt

Fixed-odds gambling

Fixed-odds gambling and Parimutuel betting frequently occur at or on the following kinds of events:

Horse racing (see below)
Greyhound racing
Jai alai
Football matches (particularly on Association and American football)
Golf
Tennis
Cricket
Baseball
Basketball
Ice hockey
Rugby (League and Union)
Snooker
Motor Racing
Boxing
Darts

In addition many bookmakers offer fixed odds on a number of non-sports related outcomes, for example the direction and extent of movement of various financial indices, whether snow will fall on Christmas Day in a given area, the winner of television competitions such as Big Brother, and so forth. Interactive prediction markets also offer trading on these outcomes, with "shares" of results trading on an open market.

See Sports betting below.

Gambling on horse races

One of the most widespread forms of gambling involves betting on horse races, most commonly on races between thoroughbreds or between standardbreds.

Wagering may take place through parimutuel pools; or bookmakers may take bets personally. Parimutuel wagers pay off at prices determined by support in the wagering pools, while bookmakers pay off either at the odds offered at the time of accepting the bet; or at the median odds offered by track bookmakers at the time the race started.

In Canada and the United States, the most common types of bet on horse races include:

• win
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