No, playing the market implies trying to make money on the price fluctuations by buying and selling. That is very different from buying a stash of BTC for later use (although I admit that if you do it hoping that the price goes up in the long run, you *are* playing the market - as opposed to if you plan on *spending* you BTC).
I think so, too. Just started by converting a bit of money into BTC and plan on investing it on one of the exchanges, through which I hope I will participate in a successful mining operation.