Table 1.

Conceptual similarities and differences between gambling, speculation, and investment

	Gambling	Speculation	Investment
Activities & instruments	Fairly distinctive from speculation and investment	Fairly distinctive from gambling, less distinctive from investment	Fairly distinctive from gambling, less distinctive from speculation
Time frame	Usually short	Variable	Long
Level of risk	Usually high	Usually high	Low
Expected returns	Usually negative with low variability	Mixed & highly variable	Usually positive and somewhat variable
Role of chance	High	High	High
Asset purchase	No	Sometimes	Yes
Stake	Yes	Yes	No
Definitive event/outcome	Yes	Usually	Usually not
Economic utility	Low	Mixed	High