I do not think that gambling and day trading are the same, sure they both involve risk which made it look like that they have a lot of similarities, but if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture gambling doesn't have a money back guarantee, trading on the other hand ensures that you can still get the money back though you have a loss. Another difference is the timeframe of return of investment, in gambling, once the dice stops or the cards are set is also the time when you will get the return or not, unlike day trading, if you bought a stock and the price continues to dump you could either wait for it to get back on track and reap a profit. For me that is enough difference to make me identify one from the other.