im a mathematician that specializes in probability and random processes. im also an advantage player in blackjack and poker whos actually made money at it. i can confirm that op is correct, as long as you dont approach gambling like gambling. gambling is based only as far as investing is based. make intelligent bets and decisions in situations where you have a positive expectation and preferably as low of a variance as possible. these decisions can include the decision to even play at all; even if doing so has a guaranteed ev of zero, thats still better than a negative ev from deciding to play roulette or slots.   luck is just probability taken personally. in the short run fluctuations to your bankroll are larger, but in the long run the variance becomes negligible and you make an average profit or loss very close to your theoretical ev, thanks to the central limit theorem. same reasoning that makes the casinos confident theyll eventually win: people can win roulette or slots now and again, but the house will win those games in the long run because they keep taking bets over and over again and the sequence of wins and losses averages out to the expected value. knowing how to spot those moments when the ev favors the player, and what exactly to do in those situations in such a way that preserves your longevity in that casino or against those players.    let them, its the fucking moron civilians that keep games like that playable and on the casino floor day after day. dont tap the glass; keep the fish happy. if you want to make money, make the little people feel like big people.
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