Gambling and the sports card hobby 

It is gambling. ripping wax and breaking are both gambling, they are just different games in the casino.

I totally agree, it's all gambling....well almost., an argument could be made for the collector. I used to buy wax from my old LCS as a kid/teen (2000-2010) because it was fun, I like collecting. I also bought singles off ebey at that time, never sold any of the cards. Since then, I've never bough a hobby box, mega or anything like that, but still will buy a retail blaster 2-3 times a year for $25-30. I don't do it for the "chase or gambling" at all, like I know I'm throwing away money, but that's ok. I just like seeing what cards are looking like, modern quality control, nostalgia, base insert sets and get a feel for the hobby.

If you think about it, it’s only gambling today because we have cheaper alternatives to acquire cards, i.e. buy singles online or at a show/LCS. Was it gambling in 1964 when a kid ripped packs from the grocery store trying to build a set? I’d say no, only because he didn’t have any other way to buy the cards he wanted. I think you can have two people buy the same box of cards and one is gambling and one is just participating in a hobby. If you remove the “anticipation of winning more value than you wagered” aspect of the definition it’s just you buying a product. You have about as much ability to predict whether that product will be “worth it” as you do predicting whether food from a new restaurant will be worth the price you pay for it. With that being said, most people in the hobby today are just gambling. If you’re buying a box knowing full well you don’t want to keep the cards that are inside it you are basically just driving the price up for people who actually might want that those cards. Remove those gamblers and box prices would be much more in line with the value of the cards inside them.

Still hard for me as an old head to get my head around the idea that opening boxes/cases of cards is gambling. When I first came in 40+ years ago, it was the opposite. You did the work of breaking boxes so that you could sell singles and profit. Buying the singles was the suckers' game.

I do not open wax with expectation of getting something "more valuable" back. Opening cards is fun. This means I stay away from high end sets. I'm not paying $300+ for a hobby box only to get 10, 20, or 30 cards. This means I stick with the basic releases and have fun putting together sets. Any parallels are just bonus cards. If you want a certain card, buy it on the secondary market. I agree that most people are approaching the hobby as a gamble and it is not good.

Very interesting insights. Modern hobby is 100% gambling. I am anti kids in hobby as a parent

Gambling is putting money to only get more or none. I’d say cards are more speculating than gambling since with cards you still get and have something in return even if that card is worthless. You still have the physical item.

Breaks should not be branded for kids. Collecting and chasing are different. You make a point that opening packs is a gamble but that is only if chasing the hit is the only goal.