Hello and welcome,

What is the difference between "a gambler" and "a trader", or for that matter, "an investor". It is a question which may occur to some people who turn to the betting exchanges in the hope of making some profit.

Bit of philosophy for you there!

I reckon they are highly overlapping categorisations. Each person so labelled risks some or all of an  initial stake regarding an outcome. However, the labels vary substantially in their inferences on the character of the person doing the staking.

A gambler is seen as a feckless, often criminal type, a trader as a "wheeler and dealer", while an investor is seen as "prudent". Yet each activity is in many ways similar. Perhaps the main difference is that "the gambler" is more likely to risk their bank betting on the proverbial race between "two flies going up the wall", and to stake all or a substantial part of their bank on the outcome, while "the investor" would seek a lower risk activity to stake their funds on. "The trader" would fall somewhere between the gambler and the investor. Yet each searches for profitable staking opportunties - their own "flies going up the wall". The investor invests more time on selecting the more likely fly, and stakes less on it, unless he is sure "it's a flier".

Will post again prior to the midweek internationals with my own particular "flies". There are some interesting anomalies in the Euro 2008 betting market which may be lucrative.

FT