Betting isn't gambling, is it?

A worrying trend seems to be appearing in some of the recent research into youth gambling. At Wednesday's Youth Forum Tim Corney, Manager - Member Services at Incolink, an organisation who provides support services to the building industry presented a snapshot into their research into problem gambling amongst apprentices and young workers in the construction industry. (This is another Local Community Partnerships Project.)

An interesting point that he made was many of the respondents so far said that they participated in activities such as betting on street drag racing, dog fights, billiards and other non-legal forms of gambling, however they didn't call this gambling.

The today I read the latest issue of the Responsible Gambling Council of Ontario, Canada's (RGCO) Newslink magazine which had a feature article by Jamie Wiebe titled "Tween" Gambling - A Glimpse Into Gambling "Preschool" This article had an interesting quote which matched up with the Incolink research (although for a younger age group)

They like to bet their friends, whatever the topic - whether it's who knows what, who can run faster, sporting events, cards or other games. They do not consider these activities to be "gambling" but "betting." Gambling was not a word they appeared comfortable using to describe their own behaviour.

When talking to youth should we be talking about problems with betting rather than gambling? Are they the same? Or is gambling the grown-up more formal version of betting? Let me know what you think!

GG