[ArchonShiva]

The "lose a little vs lose a lot" thing is absolutely realistic in the long term, but on a small number of plays you could actually win a lot of money (but you won't, so don't).

In a realistic setting, gambling probably makes the most sense used almost as an Expert Skill, because the really isn't much for it to actually do - it focuses on bet management, but gives you just enough familiarity with traditional gambling games to be functional at it.

The Gambling skill will let you determine the best possible betting strategy at a particular moment. Against the house without cheating, it really can't do much except minimize losses, but if you are cheating it will help you get the most out of it (and help dissimulate your cheating by making you seem to play reasonably - someone who succeeds at Sleight of Hand but fails at gambling will either still lose money, or raise suspicion, or both).

When playing a game that is not basically entirely luck-based, it gets more complicated. Realistically, you will use both Games(Poker) and Gambling in this case: the player with high Games(Poker)-18 and Gambling-12 playing the opposite build will win more hands but end up with less money because the better gambler managed his bets better, losing small amounts and winning big once or twice, snowballing into a pile of cash.

If playing Chess, or Pool, or similarly skill-based games, Gambling will still help you figure out how much to bet (by getting a feel whether you're being conned by a master), but it really comes down to Games skill unless you're trying dirty tricks. Whereas Poker hands are short, there will seldom be enough Chess games for Gambling skill to snowball here.

Anything on your character sheet that helps you win against the house without cheating is 100% cinematic.