I was today years old when I found out that if betting and gambling isn't exactly the same thing. If you Google the word betting most of the results will be in regards to sports betting. Also Google the word gambling and you will see most results refer to casino games. In my own opinion whether we bet on the outcome of a sports event or we bet on games of luck and skill in the casino, they are both the same thing. Which is why I wonder why there is this distinction between the two? Why can't we say casino betting just as we say sports betting or sports gambling just as we refer to the casino when we talk about gambling? I know it sounds weird saying casino betting or sports gambling but what do you think about this?
Gambling refers to the overall concept of staking something to get something on top of it, it can be anything, even if you are having a bet with someone that a certain thing would happen in the future which is also gambling, lotteries are a part of gambling as well. However, betting in general is used to refer to sports betting because when you are gambling in a casino, you make bets on games, but you don't call it betting but you call it gambling, and when you are in sports betting, you don't say I'm gambling, you say I'm betting on matches. That is probably the reason for this.
Otherwise, I don't see any reason why you can't use the word betting for gambling games but it is just more suitable to say it's gambling rather than betting even if you do make bets in it too.
Words matter, but we need to go deeper than just definitions. You're not wrong when you make a distinction - "gambling" and "betting" do have different flavors. But thats just the surface, the best people know that.
Its about how people think. Throw out "gambling" in a casino, and you get images of crazy odds, the whole flashy scene, not just the cards or the slots. But say "sports betting", and suddenly its about numbers, teams, who knows their stuff. Its a different mental game, even if luck is still involved.
Some folks might want to simplify things, and thats fine, but that ignores something important: the way these environments shape how people play, think, and feel. Its a complex business, one of the best, and we cant just dismiss that with simple words.