I wouldn't say so. In gambling you bet $10 in the hope you'd win $100, if you don't, you'll be very unhappy. In insurance you pay $10 understanding you may ot

I wouldn't say so. In gambling you bet $10 in the hope you'd win $100, if you don't, you'll be very unhappy. In insurance you pay $10 understanding you may otherwise lose $100, but whether it happens or not you're now quite indifferent to. I'm not happy or sad if I pay premiums for years without necessity, nor happy or sad if I pay premiums and I am covered by insurance when a loss event happens. I'm not gambling in the hopes of a potential event that occurs, or doesn't occur, I'm insuring so that I'm indifferent. Gambling increases risk, insurance decreases it. The Expected Value (EV) of spending $10 to have a 10% chance of winning $100, vs spending $10 to prevent a 10% chance of losing $100, might be exactly the same, but the risk is entirely different. In case A there's 9 losses (cost>EV) and 1 win (cost<EV), in case B the cost=EV every single time, that's what it means to reduce risk. It's very different from gambling in that sense.