# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/21 "2008-02-28T14:09:40Z")
Pen and paper RPGs Computer RPGs Gambling Meeting women I met a 7th level elf last night. She looked just like Alicia Witt. She had no idea who Alicia Witt is. Funnily enough, she’s loves debunking urban legends. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/22 "2008-02-28T14:55:58Z")
I think of role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Second thing that comes to mind is gambling. The third thing is computer games, which I never play. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/23 "2008-02-28T15:23:35Z")
I think of gambling. “Computer gaming” sounds weird to me. I don’t think I’ve ever used it or noticed it being used. How is it used, anyway? Like, “John enjoys computer gaming and long walks on the beach”? Sounds very odd to me. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/24 "2008-02-28T15:37:10Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] 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? [/QUOTE] I am from Nevada. Gaming is Gambling… see, the casino is not gambling… they are gaming. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/25 "2008-02-28T16:38:09Z")
I have to agree with the general sentiment in this thread. Gaming means Role-Playing or PC/Console Video Games. Specifically, I think of it this way because of the term “gamer”, as a sort of sub-culture label, much like music related labels like metalhead, punk, or other random ones like nerd, jock, etc. While I’m aware gaming can refer to gambling, it just doesn’t make sense to me. Why use gaming when we already have the word gambling? I can only imagine it’s because gambling has a negative connotation, while gaming is fairly neutral. Besides, the sub-cultures for gambling and gaming are very different. They are becoming blurred with the popularity of online poker; although, I’d be inclined to describe someone who does that as a gambler unless they also did other online games, in which case, I’d say they were both. ---
**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 29, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/26 "2008-02-29T18:26:57Z")
Thanks for the responses, folks. Looks like “gaming” doesn’t mean “gambling” to most people. [This place](http://www.abgaminginstitute.ualberta.ca/index.cfm) has an office on the local university campus. Maybe I should stop in some day and tell them to add the letters “bl” into the middle of the “Gaming” in their name–given **robardin** ’s “under 40” theory, I wonder how many university students stop in, offering to volunteer to research today’s popular console games? 😃 Seriously, thanks for the input. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/27 "2008-02-29T19:35:12Z")
Context dependent. But, either of those things. I was under the impression that “gaming” was a term the gambling industry adopted to make it sound more palatable. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/28 "2008-02-29T20:06:12Z")
Definitely gambling. I’ve actually been thinking about this lately, because I’ve been paying a lot more attention to the videogame media lately, after mostly ignoring it for a few years. And the word “gaming” in reference to videogames is everywhere. It just doesn’t sound right to me; it makes me think of seedy casinos and zonked out people hunched over slot machines. I’m surprised that it’s been so adopted by videogamers because I feel like it reinforces the negative stereotypes associated with both gambling and videogames. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/29 "2008-02-29T21:53:29Z")
It depends on the context. The game industry makes videogames. The gaming industry builds casinos. - but - I spent my weekend gaming = I was playing D & D. I spent my weekend gambling = I was in Vegas. Do gamblers ever call themselves “gamers”. Do they say things like “I really enjoy gaming?” My impression is that gamblers and the gambling industry adopted the “gaming” locution in a few specialized circumstances to make the activity seem less sleazy. Most of the time though people just call the activity gambling. Gamers and the game industry use gaming to refer to the activity itself. However, they do sometimes use “game” as a modifier instead of “gaming” when confusion with gambling might result: game industry, game lounge, game system. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/30 "2008-02-29T22:18:26Z")
A “gamer” is definitely and unequivocally someone who plays computer/fantasy/role-playing games. “Gaming” I haven’t heard as much, but I would tend to think of computer/fantasy/role-playing games before gambling. I wonder about **Trunk** ’s assertion that gamglers are trying to appropiate the word ‘gaming’ to make gambling seem more upscale and family-friendly. I think the same thing happened with ‘wager’ instead of ‘bet’. Gambling is, of course, any game that involves betting money. The big organised lotteries, Vegas, the ponies, illegal bookmaking\*, whatever. You can be a gambler and a gamer on the same contest, though: just bet that Snorg the dwarf will get to the castle before the troll chops his head off. 🙂 [sub]_‘Bookmaking’ is another really misleading word, in my opinion. I thought it ment 'book_binding\*’ for the longest time.[/sub] ---
**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 29, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/31 "2008-02-29T23:38:01Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] I wonder about **Trunk** ’s assertion that gamglers are trying to appropiate the word ‘gaming’ to make gambling seem more upscale and family-friendly. I think the same thing happened with ‘wager’ instead of ‘bet’. [/quote] Well, I think that any appropriation would be done the other way around–according to [Webster’s 1913 edition](http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=gaming), the word “gaming” means “The act or practice of playing games for stakes or wagers; gambling.” Looks like the gamers (using your word and its meaning here) are appropriating the gamblers’ word. As for “wager” and “bet,” it looks like “wager” came first. It’s from the [14th century](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wager), while “bet” dates from [1592](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bet). I should add that this same source (Merriam-Webster) lists “gaming” as dating from [1501](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaming), though M-W is unclear which usage was meant in those days (not computer games obviously, but other simulation-type games). > [@](#): > > You can be a gambler and a gamer on the same contest, though: just bet that Snorg the dwarf will get to the castle before the troll chops his head off. 🙂 It would seem to me that the odds on that event occurring already exist. If Snorg only succeeds when the player rolls, say, 1 on a 20-sided die, then we have odds of 1-in-20. If Snorg succeeds when the player rolls a 1 or 2, then we’re at 1-in-10. And so on. But if the gamer who is unaware of this bets even money at these odds, then he or she needs to brush up on his or her gaming–er, _gambling_–strategy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/32 "2008-02-29T23:56:25Z")
Computer, board, and pen and paper games of all sorts. To me ‘gambling’ has always been distinct from ‘gaming’ and I never use the two interchangeably. I’d probably include the larping as ‘gaming’, but as I never engage in them they wouldn’t automatically come to mind. They’re almost, but not quite, a distinct third category to me. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/33 "2008-03-01T19:58:39Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] It would seem to me that the odds on that event occurring already exist. If Snorg only succeeds when the player rolls, say, 1 on a 20-sided die, then we have odds of 1-in-20. If Snorg succeeds when the player rolls a 1 or 2, then we’re at 1-in-10. And so on. But if the gamer who is unaware of this bets even money at these odds, then he or she needs to brush up on his or her gaming–er, _gambling_–strategy. 😉 [/QUOTE] Not quite that simple, really, since if Snorg encounters a troll, he isn’t just going to have one chance to defend himself against said troll; it’s likely to be a drawn-out fight. (That said, unless the DM is evil or mischievous, betting on characters to arrive somewhere isn’t usually a bad plan.) ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/34 "2008-03-02T01:35:02Z")
A trip to the casino. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/35 "2008-03-02T23:33:26Z")
RPG’s ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/36 "2008-03-02T23:42:39Z")
It means ‘screwing with’ as in ‘gaming the system.’ ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/37 "2008-03-03T04:25:10Z")
To me it means computer games. If it helps, I’m female and will be 49 in less than a month. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/38 "2008-03-03T04:34:07Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] It means ‘screwing with’ as in ‘gaming the system.’ [/QUOTE] This is my first thought also, even though I’m aware of all the other uses. Must be a geek thing. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/39 "2008-03-03T05:46:25Z")
[QUOTE=Pochacco] It depends on the context. The game industry makes videogames. The gaming industry builds casinos. - but - I spent my weekend gaming = I was playing D & D. I spent my weekend gambling = I was in Vegas. [/QUOTE] This is the most complete and helpful answer yet in terms of understanding what the word means. The context (along with the part of speech) provides a frame of reference to determine which definition applies. Since I don’t know anyone who talks about computer or role playing games, but live in a city with casinos, I immediately thought “gambling.” In fact, the other meaning never occurred to me, and wouldn’t have without someone bringing it up. Of course, I’m an old fart and apparently we’re outnumbered by you young whippersnappers. I’d tell you kids to get off my lawn, but since you’re all inside playing these newfangled games there isn’t anybody on my lawn. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474/40 "2008-03-03T12:42:47Z")
Computer games. Gambling has its own word, which has more letters than “gaming.” In Spanish the verb is the same (“jugar”) but the nouns are different. Someone who gambles is a jugador, someone who games a jugón. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-gaming-mean-to-you/439474.md?page=3)