Topic: Are every activities/competitions with stake known to be gambling? (Read 583 times)

That's exactly the bottom line. Because, some person's seems to sight at gambling that it is specifically a game in  demands of financial awareness whereas there are alternatives and various ways people looses their valuables including the breakdowns of emotions at the quest of their stakes in a given activity.

Of course, human nature is always focused on winning and this is also true if a game is played without any prize. From a different perspective, you are absolutely right that players will focus on winning for reputation in the poker game which doesn't have any prize as money but the most important point I want to point out is that it wouldn't be right to consider any game as gambling when there is no money or a similar prize. When it comes to reputation, of course all players will focus on winning but it is important to remember that we act carefully to gain or protect reputation not only in the games we play but in every activity of our lives.


Definitely, I think it isn't right to consider it as gambling if there is no money or similar reward to be obtained in case the prediction wins. In particular, since it isn't possible to lose anything in such a situation, people who make predictions don't apply risk management and therefore cannot learn what risk management is. As you mentioned, especially recently, there are many gamblers who cannot manage risk management and liability management well and because of their inability to manage these they face financial difficulties. Of course, due to these financial difficulties, various fraud methods are preferred by these people.

When gambling, there must be financial issues involved. Not only that, there will also be a change in one's financial condition. When someone wins a bet, their money increases and when they lose, their money decreases, thereby changing a gambler's financial situation. We often bet with friends to verify the truth of something and if we lose there we give treat to friends but who will cover it as a bet? Given this we would say that it does not come under betting because there is no fear of losing money or not change of money that cannot be considered as betting.

It is clear that whatever the name of something that involves money or any item of value and has a value to be bet that will be the object in return as a result of the bet (victory) then clearly it is called gambling, and also if on the other hand the bet does not involve anything that will be used as an object of victory at the end of the session then clearly it is not a gamble because there is no something that is the object of victory and also there is no real possibility of what is called risk, In fact, this context is very simple and on the other hand I hope that everyone, especially those who just want to enter and get involved in gambling, will first understand what gambling really is, especially in terms of possible risks because it is clear that lately the population of gamblers is increasing but most of them are gamblers who have no responsibility for their gambling activities so that this causes a lot of problems, especially in their finances and sometimes even accusations of fraud in some casinos, especially the type of online casino.

in my opinion, when they see an activity and place a bet, I think it is the same as gambling, because they involve things or points that are like gambling where there is an activity and there is also an amount of money at stake and there is also a profit that can be obtained if they win at that's the bet. because gambling in my opinion has the point of an amount of money, an activity and a profit. so if they do something by risking a certain amount of money then I think it is the same as gambling.

like what I once felt, I was walking with two of my friends and saw a couple who were in conflict or arguing, and my two friends made a bet where one was sure that the man would do something rude, while with my other friend he had that the woman would commit rude acts. At this time I was laughing at the behavior of my two friends. and I think this includes gambling. because it has the same aspects as gambling that usually occurs.

If the stakes does not comes from the team itself and instead being given by the operators then that is not gambling though it involves money because gambling must be called when there is money involved .

So the answers remain that not all games that has stakes is gambling , this is something like in our local basketball league that each teams need to pay their entrance fee and all of those collected fees will be for the winners then for me this is also kind of gambling because they are fighting against each others just to have that Pot money.

I disagree with you. As I said, if the game is played between close friends, money is easily replaced by reputation. Try to play poker with friends without using money and you will realize that you feel the same excitement as if you were playing with money. That is why these games are called gambling, whether you like it or not.

I definitely think that any activity and prediction of potential possibilities is gambling especially where money is involved. If a prediction is made between two friends without any product or money involved, it wouldn't be right to call it gambling but if a prediction is made between two friends for a product or money, this will be gambling. So, although it is possible to state that a prediction between two people without any reward or money is not gambling, it would be very correct to state that it is gambling if the person who guesses correctly will win something depending on the outcome. In short, if there is a prediction and a reward or money that promises winnings it can be easily said that it is gambling.

That is the defining role of money in transforming an ordinary activity into a form of gambling. Even well-intentioned events can take on a gambling aspect when money is introduced. Any activity can potentially become a gambling event when financial stakes are involved. There are activities pursued purely for their intrinsic value and Those that involve money is a form of gambling. There is traditional definition of gambling which is where the element of risk, often in the form of monetary bets, adds a different dimension to the experience.

Money can have a role in shaping the nature of an activity, because it introduces a layer of unpredictability and risk. This distinction can be crucial for people to make informed choices about their participation in various events and to be aware of the potential consequences when money becomes a factor.

They will be such only if money is at stake. After all, the concept of gambling includes a mandatory game for money.
But!
Many casinos take a very tricky step, and I am still amazed at their ability to lure new players into the game. Look: there are types of slots that you can play for free, while the whole game takes place for points, not for money. But then, among those who have a lot of points, the casino chooses several guys who are paid for their luck and efforts. It turns out that there is no money game, but you can also win.

Well, to each his own. This is subjective interpretation anyway. But I don't agree. I'd rather stick to the strict sense of the meaning of gambling. Gambling involves money or something that is convertible to money. It involves betting and winnings.

If your kind of definition is implemented by the law, I'm afraid we'd all be doing something illegal because of predicting who's going to win between the Warriors and the 76ers and the loser will pay for lunch. We should also be paying taxes for our lunch winnings if that's the case because gambling prizes are taxable. And we should also be reporting it because that's also required of gambling winnings.

I consider every activity in the stake platform a clear case of gambling. I mean, Stake.com is a business with profit as its target to be scooped in from engagers or clients who come to play games whose certainties are not under their control but to luck and chance,  there is no other way to address such  a platform and everyone that finds himself there as a gambler.

Everything can be in gambling even a guessing game when you put money on it, any activity can become a gambling activity when there's money and something valuable on it, I remember there was a basketball tournament and everyone considers a yearly sports event to make youth understand the value of physical excellence and sportsmanship but some group put their money on the event and it becomes a gambling event for them.
So if there is no money involved and it is purely for that activity that's not gambling, money makes it a form of gambling.

To some extent, i agree with what you have said about the value on stake amount to be the baseline for activity to be categorized as gambling,  but then the fact that the team when an awards a cup or whatever rewards doesn't make the team gamblers because i still agree that it only becomes gambling when there is a stake amount from an outsider be it a fan who may want to test the level of his confidence by staking on his favourite team.


Aside from such, I don't think that the team or players themselves are gamblers in some instances because they are just playing for the competitions and nothing more to that.

I believe the logic behind gambling is when someone actually risk their money on something for a possible rewards and this is basically what drives the human urge to get involved because of the possible returns or profits involved. There are many times me and my household practice all this acts but we do them for fun activities like sometimes I stake with my girls on the position they are going to take on their exams and although it's a long bet. We still get to find who is the winner but I believe this type of gambling is still far better as I do the betting and they try to make sure by every means I don't actually win it.

Of course gambling is an activity that involves risk, and it would also not be called gambling if there was basically no money or other valuables at stake to get something bigger like a win or something that could be detrimental like a loss, and it is not gambling if someone does not spend anything at all as capital to bet on a "chance or possibility" because after all gambling is always about winning and losing or adding something (multiplying) or losing something as a result of the risk in the sense of obviously not getting anything at all.

Basically gambling is always about profit and loss, these two things cannot be separated in gambling because one of the two will always be the answer at the end of the session and there is absolutely no certainty whatsoever to be able to get a win, gambling is purely about profit and this is why gambling is absolutely not recommended to be made a place to earn, the basic fact is enough to be a strong reason why one should not put any hope in this activity other than entertainment.

If both teams are staking valuables on the game on their own instead of another organizer or something, then it can be considered gambling in my opinion because the losing team will lose their stakes. However, if the teams playing have nothing to do with the stakes, which means that the games are organized by an organization and they are responsible for rewarding the winning team, in this scenario, it won't be gambling because the losing team has nothing to lose and the winning team has also staked nothing to win the reward.

I think there is nothing so complicated about gambling as it's very simple. When you are having something up at stake either to win something more with it or lose it, you are gambling.

That which hangs and is in doubt between profit and loss an act in which the whole of profit or the whole of loss is at stake such an act is called gambling. Betting and gambling is when people risk money or something of value to predict the outcome of a game of chance, such as betting on scratchcards or fruit machines or with friends. If you predict the result correctly you will win money if you are wrong you lose gambling money. Thus if your money is at stake these will be conducted as gambling in the competition.

In my opinion, any activity that requires a player to predict the outcome of an event and risk his money is gambling to a greater or lesser extent. If the activity takes place among people who know each other, then money can be excluded from this system, because reputation is used instead of money. Betting on some event among friends, betting on the next president, playing cards with neighbors - all these are gambling.

Yes, that's because we bet money and guess which one of the teams could be the winner. But if both teams compete to get the prize, it is not gambling because they compete with each other and compete to be the winner and get the prize. And it's like sports matches that we often see on television where there are two teams or many players competing to be the winner and that's not gambling. The organizers have determined the prizes they get. Maybe I am wrong about that, but as far as I know, if we use the money to choose the team or players to win, that is gambling.

In any kind of activity or sports which involves two opposite team, where at the end of such activity or sport, only one team is supposed to win or the both team draws, such kinds of activity or game can be used for gambling. If such activities gave you the opportunity  to predict between the both team which will win, it is gambling and that's to say yes to your question.

If two people bet and the loser will pay for launch, that is fun but it is gambling. This is how gambling should be. It should not be a way to look for money but to bet for fun. This is gambling that you explained and not the other way around.

Like I said, it is gambling. Food is something that has value and you pay money to get the food. That makes it gambling. If no money is involved, it is not gambling. In this case, food is the money and it is gambling.

Once you use your money in any sporting stuff with mindset of getting something back, then such process is refer to as gambling, we can say is not gambling when nothing is attached and you are just a spectator, what's even stake, using your money to stake and expecting to get double, triple or more folds of your funds, no matter how we try to twist it, every event or functions that's is involved with staking your money is pure gambling in really sense because if you are to your stake, it will decrease or depreciate as investments do, you will lose all the funds, no one will be remaining, so no matter how see it or perceive to be, stake remains gambling.

What is not gambling? Gambling is not about how many players are playing. It doesn't mean that since only 1 is playing, it is not gambling. It also doesn't follow that since 2, 3, 4, 10, etc players are playing, it is gambling.


I don't think it is gambling. Nobody is betting. Nobody earns money from that bet. So that is not gambling. The things that make a game or a dare gambling are not there. Otherwise friends could be charged with illegal gambling simply because one bought a box of pizza for his friends for siding with a losing team.

If someone asks you if sports games or other competitive activities with prizes are games, you can't just say yes or no. The risks and rewards of sports and gaming are similar, but people approach them in different ways. You need to be skilled, plan, and play fair to win in sports. Their worth depends on how well the teams or players do. Bets on sports events are both a gamble and a risk of losing money. Some people bet on how the game will end to try to win money. Today, a lot of people bet on sports, so it can be tough to tell the difference between games and sports. Betting on outcomes you don't know is more like gaming than sports most of the time.

I don't think it's gambling, because it involves one person.
It's different if you're watching a match with friends, then both people eat together and agree that the loser will pay for the food from the person who wins too, that's a gambling activity even if you don't give money directly.

Even if you gamble for fun or for chasing profits, that's still gambling. What counts is that you are betting money and expects more money if you win. That's perhaps the main thing about gambling. So whether the way to play that is through a game of cards or through a game of dice or by betting through sports matches doesn't matter. The point is that you are gambling.

If you are watching a sports match and then you and your friends are taking the opposite teams and whoever loses will pay the lunch, that's probably not gambling.

So let's look on the dictionary for an exact definition of what gambling is

https://www.britannica.com/topic/gambling

So yes when the activities or sporting events have money and something valuable is involved it can be considered gambling so sports can be considered gambling to some extent, based on the definition of a dictionary but sports enthusiasts do not attach gambling to it, they want to see the performance level, skills, and strategy employed by the athlete, teams, and fighters so they can participate without the involvement of money.

It's true what you said, if two or more people play a game and the one who wins will get the amount of money they bet according to the agreement they have set before playing and if the game being played does not involve betting, the winner doesn't get anything and the loser doesn't get anything either. don't get any punishment then it's right just to fill their free time when they have free time and don't know what to do so they just play to fill their free time.

I have seen two local football teams betting with funds that whichever team that wins the match at the final rounds wins as a champion 🏆 of the game and so, they wins the bet (stakes) as an award.
In here, does that also implies gambling?

Well you could say that. Since you are staking something to receive something, you are essentially 'gambling' to make sure that your staked amount isn't lost at all. If there isn't anything that can be lost to whatever you'll be doing, then I wouldn't call it as gambling but rather as free money, though of course that doesn't happen at all

Gambling comes from various things, simply put, we bet in various fields using money as a entertainment prize and this includes gambling, but this is gambling at a level that is not sustainable. But on the other hand, if someone bets without using money or is just joking, it will not be called gambling. Gambling arises from both parties determining their guarantees in every aspect they undertake.

For that reason, I think what you have said is purely called gambling. Whether in football or other betting, if money becomes a prize, of course it will be called gambling. Because gambling is always synonymous with money and whatever they bet on if they don't risk money then it won't be called gambling.

Gambling will always involve stakes and competing with the house, or opponent if it's a game that has to do with poker.

It is hard to understand the team you're talking about in particular but if you're talking about the casino team. To make the game fair and to prevent any sort of manipulation the casino team is not allowed to gamble on their platform so the gambling is between you and the game provider. Therefore it is all competition activities are handled by the casino. Is like owning a vehicle company and having a deal with battery battery-making company.

In agreement to what other users have said already, YES! is the answer to your question. 

Gambling can be defined in different ways, with different words, which still mean the same thing. That's to say, gambling just means the same thing, no matter how it is defined. 


I got that definition of gambling from an English-version-dictionary (Android-version) and the definition is selfexplanatory. 

For example, if there is a fight between two students in a school and someone says that he or she is placing a bet that „student A“ will win the fight and another person also says that he or she is placing a money bet that „student B“ will win the fight, that is just a typical example of gambling. You can also set as many examples as you want, using other scenarios. As long as money is being staked and the end result would be a win or lose, that is just gambling. 

Anything that involves staking an amount of money is gambling, this may be in sports, politics or any or discussion or arguments as long as money is being involved it's called gambling because we are staking on what we are making argument or discussion on, that stake is what makes the difference, one doesn't have to go to the casino house before he knows he's gambling, if we can stake money on anything we have with others then we have just gambled.

Gambling is when we risk something we have to gain more... gambling is when we risk what we have to gain something else more valuable. So we go to work and we risk our bodies & minds to make money? Don't you think it's gambling? For me, it is... because we can make more money, but we can lose something else more valuable in that process.

So life is a game of chances if we look at it carefully. You can win some girl or not? You need to make a move and risk something, are you ready to do it or not? You can get something or you can lose everything... Life is one big gambling game, we either play it and make chances for us or we quit.

If we don't play/risk, we don't have a chance to win anything. If we try it we have a chance. Simple as that.

This is the philosophy behind gambling. Gambling is a money venture. An investment for the bookies. If it is so 100% that you will win, then bookies will not put it up for gambling but the fact that there is a possibility of losing and then the bookies profiting is what makes it gambling. It is a 50/50 game. A win for the gamer is a loss for the bookie and a loss to the gamer is a win for the gamer. So at every point, someone is winning and the other is losing. Gambling is never a win-win.

Hey any activity that brought two or more people together that involves staking or money is gambling, gambling can only take place if Money is involved otherwise it's not called gambling rather gaming. Gaming is a thing to play to keep you busy or ease yourself from being bored or depressed if you are playing games on your phone that is not gambling and if you are two or more playing games without staking money or staking anything is still called gaming so, gaming is what one or two persons does to keep themselves busy without involving money.

As long as stakes are there then it is gambling. If there are no bets involved, you wouldn't call it a gamble but when using this term and defining your decision like it is all what you've got and you have taken a risk, then it is a gamble.

So, the common use of it is when we're placing bets to any sporting activities and in return, we've got a potential to win and of course, losing is there too.

Come to think of it when you do not put any bet and just play sports, there's no gambling activity involved and it is not the same.

If it will have a reward for who will be finishing it first and punishment to the one who will finish it late then I think it caan be counted as gambling. You gain or lose something from an argument, contrasting perspective, predictions, assumptions, and such then that's gambling. It's concept is simply and will be more confusing if it would be associated with investments because risk is always present and there is also a tendency for either profit or loss, however investment is purely involving money and cannot be done with just agreements alone.

But with normal competitions without staking anything and just a matter of gaining or not losing anything then I guess it won't be considered. It will depend on the approach; I cannot call perhaps a tournament which will require joining fees and getting a chance to win all of the prize pool gambling. Maybe it is depending on the orientation. If the joining fee of every tem or player will be all going to prize pool then that would be gambling; winner takes all. But with instances wherein joining fees would be used to pay the staff or organizers of the event, and that prize pool will be coming from a sponsor, then that would be more of a tournament. Am I making the right analogy?

Yeah I think I have even something like this before as a discussion topic. I am also skeptical about this idea of anything that money is stake as gambling but after the whole argument I seem the point from where others were going and I now understood so I just have this question about this thought which is what if me and spouse put money that which person is gonna actually be the first to finish eating something, can this also be classified as gambling.

I once read somewhere that said that games don't involve betting money, when two teams compete against each other and there is a prize for the winner of that competition, that's just a game. Players from these teams keep playing to score goals and win games. they are not sitting around making money bets on which team will win, which is why when we see countries that have banned gambling having football leagues and many sports, then we can easily see that that is the difference in gambling. The people who go to watch the games are not losing money because some team lost, they pay entry to the stadium. the players who are playing are also not losing money if they lose the game, because they have not bet money

They receive salaries every month, so realize that a football league, a World Cup, a car race, NBA games, and many other sports are not games of chance, they are just games. two people playing poker without involving money, they are just playing. but when both people bet money when playing poker then it is considered gambling and in some countries this could land people in prison. I think it is very important that people are able to understand these differences, especially if they are living in countries where gambling is prohibited. In my country there was a person who created a computer gaming machine, but the machine is very similar to slot machines

So the owner of the game always makes an effort to clarify to people that on that machine people play computer games, they don't bet anything, but the winner gets prizes. He then clarifies to people that it is not a game of chance, it is not a slot machine that is found in all parts of my country and that to play people they must put coins in the machine, and there are many people in my country who do not know about this. difference

Of course. People are making predictions on the outcomes of such competitive activities, therefore they are gambling on the potential results of the matches in order to know who is able to guess it correctly. That is what we call sports betting. It's just another category inside gambling industry which has become really popular nowadays through online apps and the sponsorship these platforms destine to sports' industry, especially soccer's leagues and championships.

Every events we don't have 100% assurance about their results can be bet on, and this very act is considered gambling.

Put it simple. You staked something with hopes of getting more in return and accepting the fact that you could lose it, that's gambling. An activity will not only be a gamble if you don't have any expectancy of getting anything if ever your assumption is either correct or not. For xample watching a basketball match and you assumed that team A will win. If you won't lose or gain anything from thaat assumption then that will just be an opinionated guess, nothing more and nothing less. But if there's someone who would oppose on your assumption and would be willing to put something as the consequence of wrong assumption, then that's gambling, in any form of reward of consequence there is after an assumption.
Term 'value' indeed or something which is valuable to the counterparty could be gambling. If no assumption differs and no agreement is formed but an exchange of things was done, then that's just a trade and that also means no risk is present on losing something and not getting anything out of a wrong guess.
But what if it has no value?

Perhaps some of your friends agreed that they'll allow you to punch them in the face if he had a wrong assumption on the outcome of a match. Is this gambling? Yes as well 'coz there is a presence of contrast with opinions and that there is a consequence and reward at the end of the game, which is again, could be in any form.

Yes, if there is staked "money" is involved or anything that has "value" to bet on, it will be called gambling.
But the event itself is for competition to determine who is the best on that field, and prize will be given to the winner. The organizers for betting are the one responsible why sports especially those super hyped, too many fan base sports are related to gambling.

I quite had a hard time understanding what you were trying to say. I think it's quite long for a simple question.

For me, it's gambling if you have a stake involved because if you have the definition of gambling, it's about involving or wagering something of value. If that something of value is at stake, then that is gambling. It's the intent of multiplying or increasing the value of your stake, whether it's a large sum of money or valuable goods. Mixed with the game of chance, it's definitely equal to gambling.

Are sports competitions with stakes gambling? There is a difference in the base of the action. Bets are mostly based on luck, but skill can help. Sports are mostly about skill. Bets make gambling more fun, but do they change what it is? Not really. It's still about skill, working together, and plan in sports

To support responsible gambling, it's important to tell the difference between sports betting for fun and the risks. understanding the odds, understanding your limits, and betting for fun instead of relying on it are all parts of responsible gambling. The fun is in taking part, not in winning. Stop blurring the lines between activities and see how they all add something different to our lives

I don't understand what's exactly in @OP's head to ask this kind question.

Are you want to not be called as a gambler by other people, so you're trying to find a way to make sure what you're doing isn't gambling?

@OP you're a gambler, everyone is gambler, they're risking their time (valuable isn't?) in order to get what they want e.g. getting certified, enter to university, get acceptance to work etc.

As the others have mentioned already. It should still count as gambling even if we're referring to other kinds of stakes aside from money since there are people and betting shops who would take those alternative bets as long as the stake holds some monetary value.

I remember we had a few threads about this specific situation and there was a case about a gambler who decided to bet his wife on the line.

It is possible to answer yes to the question you asked just with the sentence you stated here. If a bet is made on possible possibilities and as a result one side loses money while the other side wins money, this is definitely a gamble. For example, in a football match there is a possibility that one of the two teams will win the match and the possibility that the match will end in a draw. Betting money on any of these possibilities and losing or winning multiples of that money depending on the outcome is strictly gambling. To summarize, anything that involves making money through possible possibilities can be considered gambling because the goal is to make money through an unclear possibility or it is possible to lose all the money staked for that possibility.

This could end up in quite a lot of semantics. Basically, your definition is right, but I wonder whether it is redundant even a couple of times. Isn't as soon as we talk about stakes the idea involved that whatever we put in the middle is also at risk? Would it otherwise be called "stakes"?

So the shortest version could be "gambling is when stakes are involved, i.e. when something is at stake depending on certain outcomes".

Challenging activities or competitions, well rolling the dice isn't challenging in a certain sense, depending on what you exactly mean. But putting something at stake should be enough of a definition although it should be included that gambling involves randomness of the outcome.

Gambling is not always related to casinos and is not always related to sports betting, because every activity that has a bet in it, or a certain amount of money is wagered in it, then that activity can be called gambling and the person placing the bet can already be called a gambler. And betting or gambling is very easy to package in any form, including hobbies that we enjoy.

However, so that your gambling or betting activities are more effective, it would be better if you only bet in physical casinos or on online gambling platforms. Because by playing gambling at a physical casino or online casino, this can help you manage your time and a clear gambling budget. However, to prevent losses and other negative impacts, it is quite important for us to always set and enforce deposit limits, understand the risks involved in gambling, and maintain a responsible attitude towards gambling. In essence, we must be able to maintain gambling activities as a form of entertainment, which must be managed wisely.

Even if there is no money involved but something valuable is at stake based on the result of certain even can be called as betting so yeah it is gambling when two team stake their money for their desired outcome.

You can bring gambling anywhere for any activity with just a small amount at stake and it can be a friendly bet, the involvement of money for the outcome will elevate the thrill of waiting that we call adrenaline and that is what the people are urging which can be enjoyed.

If a stake is involved and it's at a casino then you don't need any further clearity to understand that you are in for gambling already, emphasis on the casino is because the only activities that goes on in such a place is only but gambling so any thing done inside the casino that will involve you staking it's nothing away from gambling.

Outside the casino it could be just a competition just like league games where there's a price at stake to be won such cannot be seen as gambling but then if two persons have predict the outcome of an even and stake an amount in that regards stating that whosoever the out come favours goes home with the whole money then such can be regarded as gambling. Gambling must have a characteristic of two persons putting something at stake and give the whole price to the winner meanwhile competition may not necessarily involve both parties putting anything at stake , a sponsor can put up a price and maybe participants pay a fee to join in on the competition.

This depends on the legislation of a particular country. For example, in my country for some time (short) poker was recognized as a sport, but then it was reclassified as gambling. I don’t know whether this is fair or not (there are arguments both for and against), but the fact remains - it all depends on the legislation. Even in computer games, loot boxes in some countries are simply part of the game mechanics, and in some countries gambling.

Have we gone past the point where definitions mean anything now?
Soon by this logic, being emotionally invested in a team you like will be gambling.

Maybe some orthodox priest or some Imam thinks this way too. That liking a team too much and perhaps praising them more than you do god, is akin to being a sin and should be avoided.
But come on, we're right here discussing gambling. I though we'd be beyond that by this point.
It's not worth it to try to over-analyze everything and generalize over these matters. Gambling is when some form of currency is involved and risked.
Just there being stakes between two teams doesn't make it gambling. Because by this logic every sports match is gambling in its own rite.

Traditional gambling involves luck, skill, and definitely betting. But esports throws a curveball. Sure, there's luck in some games, but meistens, it's all about mad skills and hours of practice. And while spectators might bet on who wins, the players themselves aren't putting down their own cash – they're fighting for a set prize.

So, is it gambling or competition? Maybe it's both, depending on the game, the players' skills, and if someone's betting on the sidelines. It's a spectrum, like spicy food – some games are pure skill like chess, while others might have a sprinkle of chance like racing games. Esports might be somewhere in the middle, depending on the flavor.

Not really, because there is a slight difference between the two, in my opinion, because traditional gambling does not usually apply to sporting events or competitive activities involving stakes between competing teams. Sports competitions, for instance, are focused more on athletic ability, skills, and plans than on luck. That being said, when we talk about gambling, we usually mean that it involves speculating with money or valuables in order to predict a result that is mostly based on chance.
After giving it some serious thought, I believe that even though sports betting is a type of gambling, playing sports is not in and of itself a gambling activity. I am aware that sports betting involves making predictions about how a game will turn out and then placing a bet on it. We must therefore make a distinction between the act of placing a wager on the result of a sporting event and the actual sporting activity. Because there is a component of chance and risk involved in making predictions, I think that is why some people believe that the latter fits under the gambling category.

If you did not use your own personal money or other people involved, did not use their money...it is a reward.

As long as you use your own money to stake on the game and you are expecting a big profit, or there is the risk that you can lose the money in which you use to stake,it is called gambling. Because there will be high expectations, and if you lose your money, you can feel bad, to the extend that you want to stake again to see if you can win back that money.

If you don't stake anything, you wouldn't care that much as the thrill wouldn't be there.

There is a difference between the two, gambling is pure luck, while in sports there is a level of skills and competitiveness teams are competing for the honor of their country, organization, or themselves, while in gambling you'll only represent yourself.
You can stake money in sports but the teams are vying more on honor and prestige, in gambling Honor and prestige do not exist, you are in front of the gambling table or dashboard if it's online, you're vying for your entertainment.
No casino will give you a medal or trophy aside from money and a congratulatory note.

Every activity that requires money and stakes are called gambling, no matter what type of game is that, if there's monetary value involved and risking any amount, then that's gambling. Even those sports betting activity, many people didn't recognize that as a gambling but for me, it is. In my own opinion,  no matter which angle you look at it, you still spent money and took out money to bet. Even if we say that it's just a typical sports game, since you've used money and you're competing with the bet of the opposite group, isn't that considered gambling?

just to be clear, you are talking about sports tournaments or other competitions, right? if so, no, it's not, just because something has a "stake", "loser" or a "winner" does not automatically mean that it is gambling. there is a fine line that differentiates competition and gambling, just because they have similarities does not mean they mean the same thing.

Gambling is an activity that involves betting money on something. So if there is no money in it then it is not gambling. Gambling always involves two parties where one wins and the other loses, so there is risk and money in every gambling

If we bet money on a match then it is gambling, but if we are football players and take part in the match then it is not gambling even though when we win the match we will get a prize.

Sports or other activities is not the gambling itself. Your act of placing money as bet for the result against someone or a casino is the gambling part. Even gambling games such as slots, card games and other games that you can see in a casino can’t be considered as gambling if there’s no money involved when you play it.

It’s important to know that the act of placing bet using real money is the gambling and not the games or activities you are betting. You can apply gambling in any activities or games as long as there is a minimum of 2 party involved to place a stake on it.

Sports games and competitions with stakes aren't usually seen as gambling because they depend more on skill and strategy than pure luck. In gambling, chance plays a bigger role but in sports, it's about teamwork and skill.

More like everything now can be subject to gambling. In our everyday lives, I'm sure there is a conversation between you and your friends about gambling something, betting on which side is going to win or not, which is faster or not. Even without money involved, everything could be considered gambling if you are choosing between two sides: who will win and the other one who loses gets punished or what. So everything now can be subject to gambling, including all sports. Thats why many applications are born because sports betting now a days has become a demand, and they also notice that many people watch or want anything about sports. And it will be their target audience or players, and because of that, they sure will be attracted to bet and waste money because it is also in the nature of humans to have something to stake or to like the feeling of gambling.

Too thin a canvas to call every high-stakes competition gambling. Competitive sports have victors, losers, stakes, and hazards. Isnt life like that?

Sports and competitions with stakes arent gambling in the traditional sense. Why? Because skill, strategy, and perspiration are involved. Its not enough to gamble and hope for luck. Passion, teamwork, and preparation are involved.

Helping fun gambling is like eating dessert every day - delicious in proportion and with a little responsibility. Thus, stakes sports incorporate gambling but dance in a separate ballroom. They stand out with their skill-chance choreography. Remember, life is too short not to enjoy the game, so dont blur the lines.

Of course it would be called gambling on which anything that do involves betting or staking then it would be surely a gamble on which you are risking something which it isnt limited to money but also into other posessions on which it would really be that causing for you to neither gain or loses up something then it would really be just that basically gambling on which it is really just that a normal thing that a gambler or staker would really be that wary about losing or gaining something on whatever the outcomes that it would really be giving or showing. This is where thrill would really be able to felt on the time that you do know that you do stake something on which gamblers cant really be able to feel out that excitement if they do know that they cant be able to gain up something on the choices that they had made on.

Gambling involves playing games of chance for money or taking risky action in the hope of a desired result.
When individuals place bets on the outcome of sports games or competitive activities, that act can be considered gambling, as it involves staking something of value on an uncertain event with the hope of winning something else of value.
So, sports games or competitive activities themselves may not be gambling, betting on their outcomes would be.

You don't need to go to a casino and gamble to be said to be gambling, because everything that is at stake is gambling, even simple things when making guesses with friends with the winner or loser doing this and that can already be said to be gambling, so gambling is actually done almost everyone, even if it doesn't involve money, children who bet with their friends just by betting on candy or other trivial things is gambling.
Including when you trade without trading skills, it can be said to be gambling because you are just guessing and there is something at risk in this case, so gambling has been around for a long time, only now maybe we think gambling is when playing in a casino using money.

Yes, that is true. Sorry, I might also add, not only money but other valuables that we have such as gold or cars and even houses. If we risk an item of value and fiat value in a competition, it is also gambling. I have encountered many offline gambling methods like this in my environment, and sometimes they end badly.

Try playing a game without money involved. It's as boring as waiting for the water to boil.
It's gambling because there is money involved, a risk glued unto it so that we will feel the losing part and the winning part. It's a rollercoaster of emotion just putting something on the line, especially for those who earned their money through hard work. They don't want their money to be sucked into the black hole of online gambling in an instant, they want to feel that adrenaline when they are chasing losses or getting greedy.

Every activity with any type of gambling. Like when I was young we used to bet for just a big bottle of soda for a 16-point half-court basketball game. We play as hard as we can just for that prize and because we don't want to buy them anything as it will be a waste of money. We would rather win so we can drink that refreshing soda.
That's still gambling in a different way. There's something on the line although it's not directly money. The losing team will still need to buy that big bottle of soda at the end of the game.
Somehow a bet makes a person different. His emotions are hyped and he will do anything to win a game. That's what gambling can do for us and it's actually entertaining.

Making predictions without using your money to either win or lose is not gambling. There is no different opinion about this. If you are gambling, it means you are putting your own money at risk in order to either win or lose in a bet, like on bookies and on casinos. If you disagree, it means you disagree to what other people are posting and also you disagree to what gambling actually is. People do not gamble for free.

If money is involved. Aka you spent money to earn money. And if said activity, competitive or not, involved a certain amount of luck or to be more specific, the majority of it. Otherwise, it would be a competitive activity instead. There are other instances where luck isn't necessarily a major part of the result, such as sports gambling since you can certainly win bets there with pure skill. But it doesn't remove the fact that there are still factors where luck plays in these types of instances.

Now in the US there's something called a sweepstake where people can participate without money involved but still win money, which I guess doesn't conform to what gambling is. Afaik though the "without money" part is only for the US, other countries, even if they had sweepstakes, still ask for fees similar to how lotteries work.

If there's money involved and you are putting your money on the line to bet it's called gambling whether you're doing this to make money or out of entertainment

If there is no money involved and teams are vying for pride, prestige, and honor then it is called competition, on sports the best teams who excel based on their performance are the ones that are honored I consider this as vying for excellence, but if you are a spectator and you are betting your money in any one of the team then its called gambling, there is a big difference, you cannot call a basketball league as a gambling platform because they are vying for physical excellence and not only for money, money is just an incentive for defeating the other team

You are correct but staking doesn't necessary have to be money. It could be something as precious and valuable to you like your BRABUS 800, or your limited edition Patek Philippe 5303 Minute Repeater Tourbillon, your pent house. It could be something not valuable like a footwear, a pen, an eye glasses You get it. To put, once anything  is staked on an event whose outcome determines a loss or a gain of the stake, that is simply gambling.

Exactly. Once you stake and there is a risk involved that is gambling.

You know that opinion on this differs right?

Not every one agrees that money has to be involved before it is called gambling.

This is one topic I started last year that really showed that opinions on what gambling is and is not really differs from person to person.
Without money, does it still qualify as gambling?

You already given part of the answer to your question.

The difference is if someone organise a competition or an NGO or group of people or even government where the host money is not coming from the competitors but they are only called upon to participate and win prices both consolidation price then it is not gambling because those involved in it didn't contribute towards the awards or winning prices, they just came to participate and benefit from the competition then it is not gambling but competition.

There are differences between competition and gambling. A competition does not only encompass games, there are academic competition and other types of competition that is not gambling.

Hence, if you have contributed money together to have game where you will give price to parties then it is considered as gambling because if you don't win you are losing your money or material contributed. The most clearer aspect of gambling is when you stake your money to gamble to win a greater money higher than what you have staked, like we know in offline or online gambling.

I don't think it's gambling, but a race that has legal rules about it.
In gambling games, there is an element of profit that depends on luck (luck) or the skill/smartness of the player. Apart from that, gambling games also involve betting.

For example, if you play chess because you take part in a competition and get money as a prize when you win a chess game, then this cannot be said to be gambling.
It's different if you see other people playing chess, then you bet with your friend that A or B will win, then that action is gambling. Betting carried out by people who are not participating in the competition is gambling.

Thus, based on the explanation above, every game or game that contains betting elements which can be in the form of money or property, where the winnings or profits are based on luck, can also be because the players are more skilled/trained, then the action is gambling.

It doesn't matter if you gamble against the bookie or against someone you meet, whatever it is, when you bet on a game and use money it is called gambling, everything that is wagered can definitely be in the form of money or other things , it will still be called gambling, so talking about Gambling is not only about sports, in fact many games can be called gambling when you play them and also risk real money, unless you gamble using fake money or some kind of DEMO.

I think everyone knows that this activity must be based on one's own personal desires, but back to the goal of each person, there are those who want to gamble to pursue profits or just to have fun, everyone has a different view on this matter so we shouldn't either. forcing anyone to have the same view as us, only reminding them that gamblers who aim to pursue profit usually cannot control themselves when gambling, so on average gamblers who chase profit always end up not well, such as gambling addiction, which is different from those gamblers who only just for fun.

When you stake something with an expectation for a return, it is gambling. The return is not guaranteed and that is why gambling is a risk. The risk notwithstanding, people still engage in gambling because of the reward. If you are lucky, you win and get financial liberation and if you are not, you lose and sadly, the odds are always high that you will lose but people keep trying. Two persons can engage in the same activity and one is considered a gambler and the other not. The reason is one has placed money to stand a chance of increasing the money whereas the other is only participating in the activity for pleasure. For instance, some people watch soccer because money was placed on the game and some others watch simply because they enjoy watching soccer games. So, what comes to mind when the word gambling is mentioned is stake and reward.

When it comes to sports games or competitive activities with stake involved, it can be a bit tricky to define them as gambling. While there are risks and rewards involved, the main focus is usually on the competition itself rather than only chasing of profits. Gambling typically involves games of chances where as sports games and competition rely on skill, strategy and teamwork. So while there may be similarities in terms of stake and outcomes, sports games and competition are generally seen as separate from traditional gambling. It's all about the thrill of the game and the joy of competing.

Any activity in which you bet some amount with the projection of multiplying or increasing the money with an option of losing is gambling. It could take any form but as much as somebody will lose money and another gain, it is gambling. Every gambling involves some level of risk which includes losing all or some part of your stake. This is why it is always important to risk only what you can afford to lose. Gambling is both an activity to entertain and to also make a profit. I don't think there is any gambler who gambles solely for fun because nobody has the intention to lose money just for entertainment.

Money is involved mate, that's the act of gambling, you have to risk something, either money or if the casino will accept valuable items it's up to them, still, it's all act of gambling.

Have you tried checking the meaning of staking in gambling? This will give you a more clearer meaning.

Competing for world cup or kinda is between two team, right? This is different, it's sport and gamblers can only bet on one side of the team as the actual winner, gamblers won't get the gold medal if the team they bet on wins, gamblers will get money if they win.

So far you stake your money, it is gambling. In fact, that is what that makes it to be called gambling. Gambling means you are risking your money on betting. Gambling has been existing since the old age when there are no casinos and bookies.

If there is no money involved, it is not gambling. If there is money involved, it is called gambling.

Me: Gambling is a game of chances to winning or loosing where stakes are involved. It is an activity of personal desires to decide if you derives chasing after profits or catching funs.

However you tends to define gambling, it would be incomplete if stakes, risks and challenging activities (competitions) are not mentioned.

You can defined it your way but my interest is to understand this>>> Are sports games or related competitive activities which stakes are involved between both sides or teams also gambling?
Remember, there would be a winner to be rewarded and a looser to lost the stakes.