... and takes a lot of time, effort, knowledge and skill. It really is little different than professional sports (in which each player is using his skill to "take it (money) from someone else"). Sports are slightly different only in that someone else is putting up the stake money for the athletes.

And, don't you think a lot of businessmen (entrepreneurs in particular) are "gambling" in every sense of the word? What about the stock market? Futures?

Even life insurance is nothing more or less than a sophisticated gamble: By accepting your premiums, a life insurance company is "betting" that, on average, you'll live long enough to pay more in premiums than they'll pay out in benefits. Like casinos, of course, the life insurance companies have it figured out "the odds" well enough to know that they'll get their "retention" (vig) and stay ahead of the game.

----- jim o\-S