I am curious to know if someone continually invested a lot of time in studying a game involved in gambling, further if he had played the game a lot to understand the intricacies involved, then can we call him an expert in that gambling game? If we do call him an expert then we clearly differentiate his experience and expertise from that of a novice. This clearly shows that the person is capable of winning more as an expert than the novice who really does not have the in-depth understanding of the play.
This brings us to an interesting question if hard work in gambling really pays off? If one puts in a lot of efforts to understand a game involved in gambling, does it mean that all his time has gone down the drain? Certainly no. If gambling were simply a blind guess or a wild shot then even years of studying it makes it useless because one is simply guessing the outcome blindly. But such is not the scenario with gambling in reality. What makes hard work count in gambling?
This further sets off the question of addiction in gambling. Work can also be an addiction for many. But here the addiction could be for perfecting the game and the art of playing. This kind of addiction is to struggle every time for success by proper calculation and review. However, addiction can also be due to pure greed of winning with no clear knowledge of the game. If hard work counts, then we may actually find a solution for a healthier addiction towards success in gambling.
Based on your outlined explanation, I am compelled agree with you that hard work actually speaks but rather than emphasising hard work, it would be better to say smart work in gambling because the hard work nomenclature could be misconstrued and if interpreted literally, its would only lead to addiction which is something that I would always advocate against as that has led to the downfall of so many people irrespective of wherever they are.
The smart work of gambling most times is surely better. For a games of intelligence such as chess, cards, black jacks etc. Its of course smart works but the issue is that a lot of people who thinks they are smart about it are actually hardworkers which makes winning difficult but for chance games like dice or football, its less reliant on intelligence.