Please allow me to pitch in my 2 cent worth.
Let's not take the word "gamble" in one parochial manner. It has multiple meanings depending on the context. Let's check what the word means according to the dictionary:
gam·ble <script>play_w2("G0027900")</script><object style="margin: 1px;" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0" height="21" width="13">
<embed src="http://img.tfd.com/m/sound.swf" flashvars="sound_src=http://img.tfd.com/hm/mp3/G0027900.mp3" menu="false" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" height="21" width="13"></object> (g
m
b
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v. gam·bled,
gam·bling,
gam·bles
v.intr.1. a. To bet on an uncertain outcome, as of a contest.
b. To play a game of chance for stakes.
2. To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.
3. To engage in reckless or hazardous behavior: You are gambling with your health by continuing to smoke.
v.tr.1. To put up as a stake in gambling; wager.
2. To expose to hazard; risk: gambled their lives in a dangerous rescue mission.
n.1. A bet, wager, or other gambling venture.
2. An act or undertaking of uncertain outcome; a risk: I took a gamble that stock prices would rise.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gamble
As one can notice its different meanings depending on what we are talking about or under what context we use this action.
For example, I forget to bring my wallet to work many a times that has my driver's license which is a big gamble, in case one is stopped by the Police.
Every breath we take is a gamble because the next one is not guaranteed.
Any business transaction is a gamble because we do not know the end result which is only measured in profit and loss or may be a wasted effort if either of them does not happen.
Walking alone at night can be also a gamble and many many more things.
Many of you may not know that I have had a pacemaker since I was 45. I get shocks at times as a last resort to stop my heart beating very fast. Sometime the device controls it and when it can not, it gives me a shock which feels like a donkey's kick for a couple of seconds. In fact it happened a couple of weeks ago when I was at my son Trimaan's doctor's with him. I am glad it did not happen when I was driving. So, every time I drive, it is a gamble but I have to, in order to make a living.
Gurbani is a beautiful tool box that teaches us where our personal boundaries are. Doing Nitnem daily or studying Gurbani is not meant to make us parrots but to discover something new about ourselves everyday that can be used in our lives to make ourselves better.
In other words, it teaches us how to live with calculated gamble in all aspects of our lives.
Now, as I live in Henderson, NV, which is on the outskirts of Las Vegas, where I moved in 1998, I used to play Black Jack every weekend because that was our family's weekend outing for dinner and chitchatting or when other family members came to visit us from other parts of the country.
After playing for half an hour, I used to get bored and go home. Luckily, I have never lost in my life. If I had played more often and longer, then the loss would have been guaranteed. If everyone won, then we would not have these sand castles called casinos which have very attractive facades made of papier mache.
I very very rarely play Black Jack now,only when someone is in town. For me this kind of gambling is like entertainment because it always has a limit, just like watching a good show which also costs money.
The best part of Sikhi is that it gives us the foundation to be good people in life and goodness is not just in black and white but how to take the best out of the grey hues that surround us in a productive manner.
Lastly, I want to thank Narayanjot ji for putting the whole salok by Bhagat Kabeer which in nutshell tells us that if we gamble our house and clothes, then we will be homeless and naked.
Tejwant Singh