The Desert Fox.

The general Erwin Rommel, popularly known as the Desert Fox and known only (probably) to his mum by his birth name Little Eugen, was about as distinguished as generals come during WWII. Best known as a tank commander, Rommel was both a great military strategist, and a master tactician. A key to his success was being able to identify the difference between a risk, and a gamble.

In investment parlance: that is equivalent to being both a long-term market visionary, and an in-the-moment dealmaker. And similarly, to successfully be able to identify the line where a risk becomes a gamble.

Both risks and gambles involve an action with only a chance of success. Both, a chance that is heightened by acting with boldness. Key to what separates the two is that with a risk, you can recover. Your capital is not depleted. Your reputation suffers no long-term damage. You can return to your original position with acceptable losses.

With a gamble, a defeat can trigger a slew of problems that can spiral out of control. With a gamble there tend to be too many variables to complicate the future picture if things go wrong. With each added difficulty encountered during a gamble, it becomes harder to extricate oneself or one's capital from the situation. Once the stakes become sufficiently high, you cannot pull out.

The gambling siren song draws people by their emotions; moths to glittering flames of high returns, while not considering the consequences fully.

Taking risks is essential for success in investing and in life; gambling is for the fool.