Gambling is defined as placing a valued asset (usually money) at risk of being lost in exchange for the opportunity to gain more valued assets (usually money) based on the outcome of a random or unpredictable event, such as a game. The person who gambles may participate in the game or may simply make a wager as an observer of the game.
Investing is defined as placing a valued asset (usually money) in a situation where it can be used to produce goods or services, or leveraged to earn additional value (usually money) in the form of interest or service payments, with the intention of creating wealth.
Although investing may entail considerable risk, you may experience fluctuations in the total value of your investment over time (often measured in months or years), whereas in gambling your stake is only at risk for a very short period of time (often measured in minutes, hours, or days). And whereas you may “pull out” of an investment with only a partial loss, in gambling you most often lose your entire wager.
Gambling depends on risking enough money to “beat the odds” (which are always against you) of losing your money. Investing depends more on the skill of choosing good opportunities for building wealth through the delivery of goods and/or services. Some forms of gambling do allow you to develop and use skills (particularly in card games like poker) to your best advantage, but the odds remain forever against you because of the randomness factor that all gambling games include.