I call shenanigans on that.... There are plenty of people who should not be in the stock market, and are basically just gambling. But in the casino table game

I call shenanigans on that.... There are plenty of people who should not be in the stock market, and are basically just gambling. But in the casino table games, in general, the odds are always against you. There IS no winning strategy. In a market, any market, there IS a winning strategy at any given time, though the strategy will change with time along with the market. The point of the PP was more "Pay $25k to go to school and learn about trading stocks" or "How to play with $25k on the stock market to force yourself to learn what's up in real life." Either way you are out $25k, though in the second scenario there is the chance you may actually end up ahead.