Is Trading Gambling? The Truth Might Shock You…

I remember when I first started trading Forex back in late 2007, a little more than 6 years ago. Whenever the subject of trading would come up at a social gathering, I was usually pretty quick to chime in; I was so proud to be a “trader”. Without fail, one of the first comments people would make was,

“Oh, so you must like to gamble”. Or my personal favorite, “You must love going to Vegas!”. Being the naive trader I was at the time, I would get a little defensive and respond with something like,

“No, not really…trading is nothing like gambling if you know what you’re doing”. Of course at the time I had no clue what I was doing, but that’s beside the point.

Fast forward to today…boy was I WRONG about that statement. Make no mistake about it folks, trading is gambling!

Here’s what the Webster dictionary has to say about the definition of the word “gamble”:

1. To risk losing (an amount of money) in a game or bet
2. To play a game in which you can win or lose money or possessions
3. To risk losing (something valuable or important) in order to do or achieve something

Notice a common theme? “Risk” and “losing”. If there are two things a Forex trader knows, it’s that there’s always risk and you will lose money at some point. It’s simply the cost of doing business as a Forex trader.

So why then do so many Forex “pros” love to tell you that trading isn’t gambling? Or that their new and improved strategy is a sure thing with a 98% win rate? Because they want to sell you their product, of course. They want you to feel like you’re no longer gambling. Because gambling is a bad thing, right? The truth may surprise you.

Read More: Is Trading Gambling?

Justin Bennett is a full-time Forex trader and Owner of Daily Price Action. His Forex trading career began 6 years ago and has followed a path similar to many traders. For the first 3 years he tried nearly every indicator and strategy known to man, but each time the journey ended where it began, frustrated and in search of the next “holy grail” that would bring consistent profits. It wasn’t until he cleared every indicator from his chart that he had his “ah ha” moment. For the past 3 years, Justin has worked to perfect that moment into something that can be easily duplicated by other traders in search of consistent profits.