Essentially IMO it's all semantics. Gambling? Investing? I personally don't care what term you use to make yourself feel good or use to explain your gambling to others. IMO you should be looking at market inefficiencies (i.e. value) and at the same time realise that punting/gambling, etc are negative return based as opposed to say, the sharemarket which is positive return based. [Stick to what you know, identify inefficiencies in the market (i.e. get value), get the best odds available at the lowest takeout based on your SR and W-L record. Keep accurate records of winning and losing bets (and why they lost)]. This is not to say of course that you can't win betting the horses/sports. You can. I myself use the term gambling and I'm comfortable with that.

Chrome Prince wrote: "All investment is a gamble, be it term deposits with the bank, real estate, shares, racehorse ownership or punting." I have to disagree with this statement. Term deposits are not gambling. You get a positive return on the money invested at the negotiated % rate of your deposit. Real estate and shares are also positive returns based, even if the market flucuates you are still going to come out ahead, unless of course you invested in a dodgy company or house built on a swamp. Racehorse ownership and punting and gambling, plain and simple. They are both negative return "investments."

CP, I thoroughly concur with your arguement about risk. You should weigh up the 'risk' of every "investment" before parting with your green. You wouldn't buy a house without first getting a building inspection, so why should it be any different to buying a parcel of shares or betting on a horse race? The risk of winning MUST outweight the risk of losing. It's that simple.