Is Gambling A Side Hustle?

[Fivestar4everMVP]

People are saying here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5576619.msg66535841#msg66535841 gambling is not a side hustle and that making me to create this thread. And I made a research in the internet and I saw many articles say that gambling is side hustle. How sports betting became Nigeria’s new side hustle
And from personal experience, I have seen gamblers saying that "if not gambling, they would died with starvation". Not necessarily that a gambler must win every day but they win once, twice or trice a week which they can use to buy food. And as for me anything you do to give you money once a while or regular and it is not your regular job is a side hustle. If this week is not good for you, it will goo foe another person and next week might be your turn.
In my research, I saw a social media post that,

Gambling can be a side hustle to one and not be to another, this is the simplest fact and answer to the argument on whether or not gambling is a side - hustle..
We all gamble individually and as long as there is no general rules stating how gambling should be seen, any body is free and can decide on their own how they choose to see and even treat gambling.

For me, I do gamble sometimes but I've never seen gambling as a side hustle because I don't even gamble frequently,, I feel that what ever should qualify as a side hustle must be something the person engages him or herself in on daily bases when he or she is free from their normal work or business, someone who only gambles maybe ones in a whole month or even in two or three months can't possible say that gambling is their side hustle..
So in the end, gambling being a side hustle depend on how we treat gambling, how frequent we gamble and all..

[Text]

in my opinion, gambling is not really a side hustle even if some people are earning from it. I agree that there are people who say they survive because of gambling & maybe that’s true for some but we also have to consider that for every person winning there are many more who are losing money silently, we usually hear success stories but not the losses so for me yes people can make money from gambling but no it should not be considered a side hustle.

[bakasabo]

What is situation with unemployment and salaries in Nigeria ? Pretty bad if they think gambling can be a money source? They can be understood if that is the only way to get money. If there is no way to earn, would you also do gambling to make money? I have a friend who sometimes skip his lunch and use those money to gamble. He can wait few hours before dinner if he loses. If he wins he get some spare money.

[Kelward]

Side hustle means that you earn extra money from another job after doing one job. But instead of earning extra money from gambling, you lose extra money, so in this case you can never consider gambling as a side hustle. Site hustle will be a regular extra income, there will never be any loss, but in gambling, the amount of people is more than the profit in some cases, so in this case I do not see any income. For example, if you earn money by going to a site after doing a job, then it will definitely be called site hustle, but in the case of gambling, site hustle does not follow any rules.

Gambling cannot be called a side hustle in the real sense because after putting your spare time into it there is no guarantee of making money at the end of the day so it cannot be a realistic side hustle. Gambling should be for entertainment where you thrill yourself for fun with small amounts not desperate to win or gain profit from it but if you are bent on making money from it then it can be a side hustle for you. Like I said before if you choose to make it your side hustle you should know that it is not a realistic source of income because all your efforts can yield nothing at the end of the day. If you make gambling your side hustle be prepared to face loses most times except you're exceptionally lucky to be winning most of the time.

[Somegory]

There is no amount of goods talk about gambling that can make me believe that gambling is a good way of making income, anyone who is making some money every week are lucky, and trust me they won't tell you when things aren't going well for them.

If you expect gambling to bring you food every week there will come the weeks where you will have to starve, gambling is not a reliable way of making money, you will have to experience this before you learn the hard way.

The fact that you can't always win makes it ridiculous for all those who believe otherwise, gamble only when you have some more thatyou are prepared to lose.

[coin-investor]

Some gamblers are really good at sports betting analysis, but the majority can only hope. Every gambler is different in how they analyze their game soem are good, and some have developed their insight because they dedicated years to exploring various methods and strategies to reach a level of success.
We can't conclude with facts that gambling is a side hustle because not the majority of gamblers will and can make money from gambling, gambling is always risky, and you can't make a casino a cashcow, there's just always an exception and the number is not that high.

[Shinpako09]

If they have a regular job and are making money from gambling, then maybe we can at least consider it. But in reality, gambling isn’t even something that should be treated as a side hustle. A side hustle should generate income with little to no risk. With gambling, profit is not certain, and you could even lose your funds instead. That’s why it is not advisable to treat gambling as another source of income.

[Finestream]

A side hustle is any way to earn money outside your primary job, which means gambling can be a source of income if you are making good profits from it. But if you are constantly losing and just ruining your finances with gambling, then it will never be considered a side hustle.

However, the fact that you're making extra income from gambling, because you are seeing it as a side job or a sideline, even if its not a real or stable job or occupation, no doubt it can already be labeled as a side hustle.

[Wakate]

A side hustle is any way to earn money outside your primary job, which means gambling can be a source of income if you are making good profits from it. But if you are constantly losing and just ruining your finances with gambling, then it will never be considered a side hustle.

However, the fact that you're making extra income from gambling, because you are seeing it as a side job or a sideline, even if its not a real or stable job or occupation, no doubt it can already be labeled as a side hustle.

Yea side hustle is additional way to make money from gambling and it will be so unfavorable when a gambler decided to see gambling as their major soruce of income. People that are making money from gambling know the secret of their success ans majority will not want to share it with others so the strategy does not become too common making it less effective.

[AmaGold70]

Gambling can be seen as a side hussle because is not a permanent income stream. Every gambler record losses at one point or the other making gambling an unreliable source of income. On the other hand, gambling is surviving some gamblers, and some have also used gambling to position themselves in life, and that is for those who are lucky enough. There are also some persons who have their regular income stream and some of these people decides to add gambling as another way of generating more money for themselves, maybe they feel that their regular income is not enough to carry them or take care of them. To make gambling a good side hussle, don't gamble with greed, bet on few games and increase stake a little and you win more than you loose.

[Doan9269]

There's difference between a set of gambling, looking at their interpretation, each one of them stand for, we can see that the difference is there, if we want to hustle, then we can be committed in doing it and put them more efforts to ensure that will make some earnings from what we are doing, while after having already made the money, we can also be committed to using it for the purpose of pleasure when we are gambling, misconception is not good and we shouldn't put in this with what we should expect from gambling.

[Emjay24]

People that are making money from gambling know the secret of their success ans majority will not want to share it with others so the strategy does not become too common making it less effective.

I wonder most times what the strategy to a long-term profitability in gambling really is? especially when it comes to online gambling.
I have the inclination to believe that most guys who win consistently are those who mastered skill of physical gambling settings and use their skills to generate wins for themselves through practice and mastery of the process in games like dice, poker, snooker, e.t.c.
I don't think such could be found in online gambling platforms.

[TheUltraElite]

I dont consider it a hustle, because the ultimate goal of a hustle is to make money not to lose money even if it requires taking a risk.

The major people who are gambling have to do it for the short term and not long term. Hustles are often mid to long term till they end up making it a main source of income.

Try gambling if you want and see for yourself which point of view is correct. From my experience I have said my part.

[SatoPrincess]

I told you before on another thread and I will say it here as well. Gambling is not a side hustle, just because there is a possibility of winning money doesn’t make gambling a reasonable or dependable source of income. I would be very concerned about the life choices of anyone who says they would have starved if they didn’t gamble.

[Siros]

I want to know your experience and opinion if gambling is a side hustle or not.

The term "side hustle" usually implies an activity where your effort, time, or skill leads to a relatively predictable income. The main problem with calling gambling a side hustle is the mathematical reality of the House Edge. In the long run, the casino or bookmaker is designed to win, which is the exact opposite of how a "hustle" should work.

While some people in Nigeria or elsewhere might use it to "survive" a tough week, that's more about survival bias and luck than a sustainable financial strategy. If your "side hustle" can wiped out your "main hustle" earnings in a single afternoon of bad variance, it’s not a job—it's a high-risk recreation.

The only people for whom gambling is truly a side hustle are:
1. **Professional Arbitrage Bettors (Arbers):** Who mathematically lock in profits.
2. **Value Bettors:** Who have a proven edge over the bookies' lines.
3. **Affiliates:** Who earn from the traffic, not the bets.

For 99% of players, calling it a side hustle is just a dangerous way to justify what is essentially a paid form of entertainment. If you're winning now, enjoy it, but never rely on "luck" to buy next week's groceries.

[rachael9385]

I told you before on another thread and I will say it here as well. Gambling is not a side hustle, just because there is a possibility of winning money doesn’t make gambling a reasonable or dependable source of income. I would be very concerned about the life choices of anyone who says they would have starved if they didn’t gamble.

The truth about this thing is that it is not everyone that sees things the same as others. Just in the comment from the photo op posted, the person said that gambling is a sin which you and I knows that there's no way gamble is sin. From that comment alone in the photo, it really explained a lot about some people and how they think. If other gamblers think gamble can be a side hustle, then it's fine for them, but from my perspectives I do not agree to the fact that gamble is a side hustle, a gambler is lucky to day and tomorrow doesn't mean it's easy to win and for take take gamble as a side hustle.

[sompitonov]

The truth about this thing is that it is not everyone that sees things the same as others. Just in the comment from the photo op posted, the person said that gambling is a sin which you and I knows that there's no way gamble is sin. From that comment alone in the photo, it really explained a lot about some people and how they think. If other gamblers think gamble can be a side hustle, then it's fine for them, but from my perspectives I do not agree to the fact that gamble is a side hustle, a gambler is lucky to day and tomorrow doesn't mean it's easy to win and for take take gamble as a side hustle.

I often hear newbies think they'll make money, but they don't want to consider that millions of players around the world have followed this path and failed. I'm sure every newbie has the thought that they'll look at the game differently and see opportunities to make money. I hasten to disappoint these newbies, because there are players who have been playing for 10 years straight, visiting forums, sharing useful information, and communicating with each other, and even they don't always manage to make money; sometimes they lose more often. So that's why they have to lose, while newbies have to win—that's what I want new players to think about.

[serjent05]

In the definition of a side hustle, gambling barely fits the description.  One of the reasons is the stability of income.  Side hustle should have income reliability but gambling don't have.  Even the skill-based poker games barely meet the standard.

People may say and believe that gambling is a form of a side hustle, but the question is, does it fit the qualifications?

The term "side hustle" usually implies an activity where your effort, time, or skill leads to a relatively predictable income.

[Findingnemo]

Gamblers are making shit load of money from gambling there is no doubt about it, but I won't consider it as side hustle or any source of income because it is not guaranteed. I consider something as a revenue stream when it gives the returns, not now but something that depends on the efforts but with gambling it is highly uncertain and one can wager more than what they win and in that case it doesn't make sense that they can use that to feed them when they actually used that money to buy the food in the first place right?

[Asuspawer09]

I mean, we all see gambling as a bad thing, I would probably going to consider it as a vice, and it could also be an addiction, but we would probably going to all agree that with the right dicipline gambling is not going to be a bad thing. I'm not saying that gambling is not making money at all, the thing is, only a few people are able to do it, only a few people are able to make a profit in gambling, most of the time people are losing money on it, worst, they are losing an uncontrolled amount of money, because they are not managing their gambling.

I think gambling is not a side hustle, but with the right thing, and dicipline it can be one, I mean I wouldnt going to say that im winning a huge amount on gambling but I did make a decent amount a lot of times, I do not gamble daily something like that, it was just a little side job most of the time, only when I want to, or feel like to. I think gambling can be a side hustle as long as you can handle it, It is already similar to trading, it is just high risk and high reward as well, but the thing is, it was even riskier than trading.