Of course not as there is no skin in the game whatsoever. From what I understand something has to be at stake in order for gambling to be called gambling. It could be anything, money, a promise for a service or whatever or otherwise it simply isn't called gambling. Some people say that it is one about being right or wrong and then call it gambling already, but if there is not at least some reputation to lose, it's not called gambling at all. It is more like a normal prediction when you give a guess for a certain outcome, but nothing material is involved.
Well I have a friend who is a doctor, he is an internist and an endocrinologist, and I recommended him to play with a casino to stop the stress he keeps, then he Tells me that he has played, but that he hasn't gambled, and he plays in demo mode, and I couldn't believe it, he tells me that he does it to be more relaxed, and I find it incredible, I don't think I'm the only person in the world who has fun like that, so if it's possible that someone can have fun and if they can use the casino for that mode , I don't see it as bad, so if it's possible.
Nobody argued it is bad especially when the person finds relaxation and doesn't waste money, but the question was whether it can be considered gambling when noting is put at risk and I argue no, it is not.
What your friend is doing is an activity that obviously helps him calm down, but it is not gambling. He could as well knit a pair of socks or a pullover and calm down and even if he stops the time as to how long it takes him to do a pair of socks, nobody would call it gambling. It's an activity that gives him pleasure and in the case of your doctor, he enjoys the pleasure of running slot machines in a demo mode or see the cards dealt in a poker game. Whatever it is, but as has been said before, in my opinion gambling does involved something to be at risk. It could be money, it could be honor, it could be reputation, it could be something else material or immaterial that is of some kind of value that the person would prefer to keep to them.
An interesting point has been made here by Hispo here
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To me, there is still some elements of gambling even if the money is worthless or fake, as wagering fake money could still activate the producticion of neurotransmitters within our brain, which could or not cause a long standing addiction, or make people move onto gambling with real money.
as he refers to the activation of neurotransmitters even when no real money is involved. I do indeed believe that it is true and that it could be measured, but it's not a substantial proof for me personally that fake money games could fulfill the definition of gambling. But that's a personal opinion and people can certainly see things differently here.