[devit]

Insurance is done to reduce risk, gambling to increase risk.

Betting on sports is insurance if and only if you bet against your own team for an amount not greater than the winnings.

[anbende]

Gambling does increase risk, but it is not done TO increase risk. Risk is accepted (or embraced) to increase reward.

Of course it gets murkier when people talk about the “rush” of gambling, which is I think what you’re alluding to, but it’s not as straightforward as you make it or the most popular gambles would be those with the longest odds or the highest chance of complete ruin.

[Psyladine]

No-one gambles to increase risk. Waging a bet against a payout is only superficially different from waging a premium against a catastrophe.