I understand that the hedge funds stand to lose a lot of money, and potentially go bankrupt, but isn't that just one of the risks when you play the stock market

I understand that the hedge funds stand to lose a lot of money, and potentially go bankrupt, but isn't that just one of the risks when you play the stock market? There is no guarantee that all your bets will end up making you money. If you want a sure thing, put your money in bonds or some other investment that has low risk. The hedge funds are acting like they deserve to make money off their shorts and them not making that money is theft in some way.