# What is the correct interpretation of the Gambling Results table in Xanathar's Guide to Everything?

In Xanathar's Guide to Everything, one of the downtime options provided in "Downtime, Revised" allows a character to gamble during their downtime to earn extra money.

### Gambling

Games of chance are a way to make a fortune—and perhaps a better way to lose one.

[...]

Gambling Results
$$\begin{array}{|l|l|} \hline \text{Result} & \text{Value} \\ \hline \text{0 Successes} & \text{Lose all the money you bet, and accrue a debt equal to that amount.} \\ \hline \text{1 Success} & \text{Lose half the money you bet.} \\ \hline \text{2 Successes} & \text{Gain the amount you bet plus half again more.} \\ \hline \text{3 Successes} & \text{Gain double the amount you bet.} \\ \hline \end{array}$$

—Xanathar's Guide to Everything, pg. 130

So if I place a bet of 100gp and make my checks against this table, how much would I have, for each category?

## 1 Answer

This table describes how much money you would have after one week of gambling.

$$\begin{array}{|l|l|l|} \hline \text{Result} & \text{Amount you have after Gambling} & \text{Gain} \\ \hline \text{0 Successes} & \text{-100gp (a debt of 100gp)} & \text{-200gp}\\ \hline \text{1 Success} & \text{50gp} & \text{-50gp} \\ \hline \text{2 Successes} & \text{150gp} & \text{+50gp} \\ \hline \text{3 Successes} & \text{200gp} & \text{+100gp} \\ \hline \end{array}$$

You can instead think about it in terms of percentages:

$$\begin{array}{|l|l|l|} \hline \text{Result} & \text{Amount you have after Gambling} & \text{Gain} \\ \hline \text{0 Successes} & \text{-100%} & \text{-200%}\\ \hline \text{1 Success} & \text{50%} & \text{-50%} \\ \hline \text{2 Successes} & \text{150%} & \text{+50%} \\ \hline \text{3 Successes} & \text{200%} & \text{+100%} \\ \hline \end{array}$$

• Are these tables from an official source? The wording of "Lose all the money you bet" and "Lose half the money you bet" implies that you still have your bet until the result takes place. But following these tables "Gain the amount you bet" would have to imply that you don't still have your bet. which seems contradictory. – Lunin Feb 21 at 20:44
• @Lunin The table quoted in the original post comes from Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The Tables quoted here are my understanding of what a correct interpretation of that table is. If you feel this interpretation is incorrect, you're welcome to submit your own answer. – Xirema Feb 21 at 20:47
• @Lunin For the record, there was considerable discussion about how the table is supposed to be interpreted, and the implication that a bookie would never allow someone to retain their bet after making a bet was used as justification for this interpretation of the table. There's definitely some ambiguity in how the rules are written though, so there may be a compelling case for an alternate interpretation of those rules... – Xirema Feb 21 at 21:02
• Honestly my knee-jerk reaction was the same as what you've said in your answer, but then I though that perhaps the person asking the question was confused by the ambiguity between "Gain" and "Lose" which the answer didn't seem to address fully and thus was curious if this table was an official clarification. (It honestly wasn't until after I posted my comment that I realized that you were both people, heh) If I have some time later I might post the alternative as an answer with the mechanical implications of each so DMs can decide how "good" gambling should be :) – Lunin Feb 22 at 1:32