There are endless threads that discuss the difference, or not, between the two terms and at the end of the day I don't think it matters one jot how one defines them. One thing to avoid is gambling against an entity that has a statistically quantifiable edge over you, for example by playing roulette for a long time in a casino.

Life and all it entails is a series of gambles. Every decision one takes is, in effect, speculating on an uncertain outcome once all effects of it are accounted for (an impossible task). Select the red pencil not the blue one to write your shopping list and the next thing you know the tip breaks off just when you were about to include "baby aubergines" and thus your first date's Thai green curry is a bit lacking, meaning you fail to have children with her 5 years down the line, which is a pity cause one of them would have averted a world war. Still, that's perhaps what makes the business of living so exhilarating. *replaces sherry in fridge*

This one's quite interesting -

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showth...threadid=59106