An interesting distinction. My view of gambling is that it is basically investing with an expectation of negative return. In other words, donating at least a few pennies of every dollar you wager to a casino or sports bookie, in the long run. I think the numbers support that. Given that mental model, the only difference I can see between gambling and blowing money is that some people enjoy the experience of gambling, and say they're paying for that experience.
But you can make that argument about anything, I guess, and if you make that argument I don't think it's even possible to think of yourself as blowing money, no matter what.
But you can make that argument about anything, I guess, and if you make that argument I don't think it's even possible to think of yourself as blowing money, no matter what.