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You are right, mate. Anyone that knows what scam truly means, will not call gambling a scam. If gambling was a scam, then it would be banned in almost all the country. There's no gambler that doesn't lose money but yet they don't refer to it as scam.
Gambling is like an entertainment place, where when we want to try a certain ride to test our adrenaline and get pleasure from the ride, we have to spend money to pay for tickets, so too with gambling, where to get pleasure in gambling, we have to spend a little money that we have.
What do you mean by the word equivalent here? It means that it is clear that from the beginning in general everyone must gamble with money from their hard work, you yourself decide to gamble and there is no coercion or even threats from anyone including the casino that tells you to get involved in gambling, so of course it doesn't make sense if you think that the casino has cheated you just because you experience a loss with a possibly quite large amount. On the other hand, I am honestly sure that you will never think that you have been cheated by the casino if for example you managed to win, meaning that the assumption of fraud actually comes from within you because you feel disappointed and emotional because you lost while on the other hand it is clear from the beginning that defeat is part of the consequences when you are involved in this activity.
Casinos never force their visitors to gamble, or force their visitors to spend more money in gambling. In other words, it all depends on our perspective and control over gambling itself.
On the other hand, it is common knowledge that the chances of winning in gambling are always smaller than the chances of losing. So, I think only fools spend more money in gambling in the hope of making a profit, they really don't understand how the gambling system works.