Gambling is the act of playing a game for stakes—it is thought of as the art of taking chances. It is also often called betting. A bet is the amount of money, or other object of value, that is risked in a wager. Most people gamble with the hope of winning a certain stake, usually a cash payment. But in order to get such a payoff, the gambler must risk money or valuables, betting these items on the outcome of a game, contest, or other event. All of this depends on the outcome of activities that are partially or wholly dependent upon chance. What is chance? Mathematically speaking, chance is a measure of how likely it is that an event will occur—a probability. (For more about chance and probability, see “Applied Mathematics.”)