Comments on From an expected-value standpoint, is gambling the same as investing?

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From an expected-value standpoint, is gambling the same as investing? [closed]

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Closed as not constructive by Peter Taylor‭ on Aug 27, 2026 at 19:47

This question cannot be answered in a way that is helpful to anyone. It's not possible to learn something from possible answers, except for the solution for the specific problem of the asker.

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Who’s correct, and why? Vadim Ponomarenko contends

From a mathematical expected-value standpoint, there is no difference between gambling (e.g. buying a lottery ticket) and investing (e.g. buying a share of stock). The former probably has negative expected value while the latter probably has positive expected value, but that is not a distinction to include in a definition (else every company that gives a bad quarterly earnings report suddenly changes categories).

But Ryan gainsaid

I downvoted this. The first sentence is incorrect. By the way, a stock that has recently lost value has NOT necessarily also lost expected future value.

Why is, or isn’t, gambling (e.g. buying a lottery ticket) the same as investing (e.g. buying a share of stock) in terms of expected value?

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Mark V‭

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Comments on From an expected-value standpoint, is gambling the same as investing?

From an expected-value standpoint, is gambling the same as investing? [closed]

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