Student Question -- "Do you think it is wrong for a Christian to gamble for fun and not out of greed (especially if they can budget themselves well)?"

I believe this is another matter of Christian liberty. There are no explicit prohibitions against gambling in Scripture. I do know that gambling can be very addictive, so one must be very careful.

Since you asked my opinion, I have to wonder about the entertainment value of many forms of gambling, and the wisdom of it. Playing the lottery is just plain foolish; staring at a slot machine in a smoke filled casino sounds as fun as root canal. On the other hand, many years ago I used to go to the dog race tracks with my family (with my parents). We would study the dog sheets before each race and put down a whopping $2 bet on the dog we liked "to show" (we won something if he came in first, second, or third... but just a little). We would usually come pretty close to breaking even... and we had a lot of fun.