# Poll: What does "gaming" mean to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474 "2008-02-28T03:48:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/1 "2008-02-28T03:48:17Z")
I’ve wondered about this for some time. I’m also am wondering if we’re seeing a semantic shift in action, so I thought I’d ask: what does the word “gaming” mean to you? Does it mean: – Playing computer and/or video games, such as on a PC and/or console (Wii, PS3, etc.); or, – Gambling, such as games regulated by your state’s or province’s “Gaming Commission”? To me, “gaming” means “gambling,” but that may come from the fact that I’m a lifelong horseplayer and former casino worker. I don’t have any game console, and while I do play the occasional fast game of something on my computer, “gaming” to me still means playing horses, craps, blackjack, or slot machines in a casino or other licensed gambling facility. What say you? ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/2 "2008-02-28T03:59:32Z")
I think of computer gaming. I never knew it could refer to gambling. ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/3 "2008-02-28T04:03:53Z")
[QUOTE=Lakai] I think of computer gaming. I never knew it could refer to gambling. [/QUOTE] Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/4 "2008-02-28T04:04:49Z")
I have only heard “gaming” to mean gambling in the context of gaming laws. Gaming is PC/console games; if you mean craps, baccarat, poker, etc., it’s “gambling.” ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/5 "2008-02-28T04:07:38Z")
To me, it mostly means “playing games” such as Dungeons&Dragons, various computer and video games, and the like. I don’t include most traditional board games (chess, checkers, chutes and ladders) in this definition. I am aware that many people use gaming to mean gambling…but that’s only because I lived in Las Vegas for about a decade. Gambling does not appeal to me, for some reason. I also thought that “fantasy role playing” only meant games like D&D…until I stumbled into a FRP chat room on AOL. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/6 "2008-02-28T05:16:34Z")
Dungeons & Dragons, MtG, that sort of thing. Like **Lynn** , I don’t think of chess or checkers. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/7 "2008-02-28T06:05:16Z")
I think first of LARP (Vampire, Werewolf), second of consoles/PC and thirdly of gambling. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/8 "2008-02-28T06:24:30Z")
Playing computer games. Or electronic ones anyway. Not board games or cards. I don’t consider ‘gaming’ a synonym for gambling, no matter how much the gambling industry would like us to use the word that way. ---
**Author:** ![ShermanAter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ShermanAter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShermanAter)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/9 "2008-02-28T06:54:41Z")
I must be weird but my first thought was gambling. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/10 "2008-02-28T07:07:05Z")
Heh. When we were on our honeymoon in New Orleans (pre-Katrina), we walked past a bar that advertised “Gaming inside” and I was all excited - I figured they had a LAN set up or something, since it didn’t seem to be the sort of place that would have D&D games on a regular basis. But NOOOOOO, it was video poker! Feh. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/11 "2008-02-28T07:10:34Z")
[QUOTE=Lynn Bodoni] To me, it mostly means “playing games” such as Dungeons&Dragons, various computer and video games, and the like. I don’t include most traditional board games (chess, checkers, chutes and ladders) in this definition. I am aware that many people use gaming to mean gambling…but that’s only because I lived in Las Vegas for about a decade. Gambling does not appeal to me, for some reason. I also thought that “fantasy role playing” only meant games like D&D…until I stumbled into a FRP chat room on AOL. [/QUOTE] That’s what I think of first when I hear the word gaming. Either computer or tabletop roleplaying games of various sorts. ETA: Now, if I hear it in the context of “gaming tables” I know that means gambling. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/12 "2008-02-28T07:47:03Z")
I think of video games, specifically multiplayer role-playing games. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/13 "2008-02-28T08:07:46Z")
Gambling ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/14 "2008-02-28T09:35:42Z")
I think of role-playing games–D&D, Rifts, etc. and specifically I think of the old pencil-and-paper gamers. WoW and so on counts too, but I don’t think of my husband as a “gamer” because he only plays certain video games. I know the term applies to gambling too, but since I never go to casinos or anything it’s not the first thing I think of. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/15 "2008-02-28T10:27:53Z")
I think of pencil-and-paper roleplaying games first and video games second, with gambling a distant third. Lately I’ve been hearing ads for the SF Giants filled with phrases like, “Are you a gamer?” and “You know a gamer when…” They bug the crap out of me; a gamer isn’t someone who watches other people play, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/16 "2008-02-28T10:48:36Z")
From a non-english speaking viewpoint, that is a word that at least has crept into my circle of scandinavian friends. Whenever we do something related to playing games on a pc or xbox or somesuch, we call it gaming or gamelaming. An english word borrowed and directly applied to such activities. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/17 "2008-02-28T13:32:00Z")
“Gaming” meaning blackjack, roulette, etc. is certainly the older meaning of the word, but for most people under the age of 40 (at least, those who are not casino, race track or video poker parlor junkies, which is most of them) it would be more associated with computer/console games. Even that use is relatively recent. When I was a teenager in the 1980s, if you called yourself as a “gamer” it typically described playing strategy or role playing games, be it AD&D, Diplomacy, or Steve Jackson games like Car Wars, Illuminati!, O.G.R.E., etc. (Yes, I was a “gamer”.) Stores like [The Compleat Strategist](http://www.thecompleatstrategist.com/index.asp?PAGEACTION=COMPANY) billed themselves as “the headquarters for gamers” or something like that (their current motto being " The True Gamer’s Strategic Choice"). I had a C=64 and played plenty of joystick-based games on it, and was well familiar with playing Atari and Colecovision games as well at friends’ houses, but those were _video games_. I don’t know when the “video” dropped out. I remember noticing it some time in the early 1990s and being a little bit bothered by it (“why is ‘video gaming’ the default kind of gaming now?”), but in retrospect it was simply a harbinger of times to come, because it seems they _are_ the default kind of gaming for most people playing games. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/18 "2008-02-28T13:39:20Z")
To me Gaming means either RPGs, War Games and Computer games or the Gambling version. ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_No\_Saint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/977dab/32.png) [@I\_m\_No\_Saint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_No_Saint)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/19 "2008-02-28T13:45:29Z")
video games was the first thing to spring to mind, then pen and paper RPGs. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/20 "2008-02-28T14:05:11Z")
The first thing I think of when I hear ‘gaming’ is tabletop RPGs (Dungeons & Dragons, Shadowrun, etc.) Computer/video games are second. Gambling is a distant third. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474.md?page=2)