REI is just like Poker. ..not because I think of it as gambling.  

We don't drink, smoke or gamble so that helps, lol.

This is my passion, and always has been.Stocks are a gamble.

These investors are banking that they'll make their money back through future appreciation which can be seen as speculation/gambling not investing.

Sacrificing my family for an uncontrollable drive to succeed in REI

Being an ******* in control is always better than being an uncontrolled one.

That's gambling IMO.

While that is technically true we have invested money in something, I doubt that would meet most investors definition of an investment.To me an investment generates positive cash flow...that's it (I recognize that others would consider this too narrow a definition, but for me, that is what I care about.)These properties won't cash flow, they are purely an appreciation play and that is closer to gambling than investing...to me.

It's a gamble.

To get a say 30% gain either the price has to go up 30% to 6,110 which is Ponzi scheme or gambling by investors or the S&P earnings has to go up by 47%.S&P average of 4,700 is tech heavy.