Actually, I guess you could say that this thread was inspired by the “Admit Your Gaming Mistakes” thread over in the new Game Room forum. I thought it would be anecdotes about people making errors in casinos, but no; that thread was all about the non-gambling meaning. It never occurred to me either, until I opened that thread.
Exactly. The casino industry has worked hard to change the name from “gambling” to “gaming” . It sounds better to say you go to the casinos for gaming - then it is not a gamble with money, it is just a game for fun.
The difference is that losing games on PlayStation sucks, but losing a games on slot machines can cost you a mortgage payment…they just don’t like to mention that slight difference. It’s just a game - it’s fun!
Some of you older folks might remember that in the old days, cars and planes had “safety belts”…then the auto and airline industry found out that the term " fasten your safety belts" scared people. Voila! “Please fasten your seat belt,” suddenly became the new terminology.
My order of interpretation:
- Video games
- D&D or similar
Distant third, only because of offices like the Gaming Commission, 3) gambling. To my mind, that’s why we’ve got the word “gambling;” it’s supposed to be used for this meaning.
I guess I’m showing my age when I say “gaming” means “gambling” to me and nothing else.