Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money on an event with uncertain outcomes with intent to win additional money.

GTA Vice City
The ability to wager money is first introduced in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, when the player must pay entrance fees for Vice Street Racer events, with a set limit on how much he or she can bet, and perform well enough in the races to break even.

GTA San Andreas
In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, more activities were available that the player can take part in to wager money on in order to gain more money if the player wins the activity or lose the money wagered if the player loses the activity. With its expansion in GTA San Andreas the chances of losing/winning are more probable.

Gambling skill
In GTA San Andreas, the player can increase the gambling skill of Carl Johnson by spending money at the casinos. The skill increases by 1 for every $1,000 spent up to a maximum skill of 1000. There are certain activities that bar the player from playing due to a low gambling skill, such as the Wheel of Fortune, which only allows those who could at least wager a maximum of $10,000.

Debt
When the player runs out of money (having $0), the player can borrow money from the casino when playing at a casino table (an amount of borrowed money corresponds with the player's wager on the table), leading to a negative money value. The amount allowed to borrow in each round at the table is based in how high the gambling skill is; the higher the skill the more is allowed to borrow. When having -$500 or less, borrowing money puts the player in "debt", resulting in the player receiving phone calls from the loaner about returning their money once the player leaves a casino.

If the player fails to repay their debt after a certain amount of time, the player will be persistently attacked by Micro SMGs and AKs-armed gunmen in a Vincent whenever they are in Las Venturas, until they repay their debt. The more money borrowed from the casino, the more gunmen will be sent after the player. The player can also pick up the money dropped by the gunmen to decrease their debt.

Increase Skill
Gambling skill can be increased without losing any money by the following method: the player must head into a casino in Las Venturas and head to a roulette table. They should choose the highest wager possible for their skill level. Next, half of the maximum wager should be bet on red, and half on black (e.g. $5,000 on red, $5,000 on black for a $10,000 wager). When the player plays the game of roulette, the outcome is a 'no win' situation and all of the money is returned to the player.

However, gambling skill will still be increased since the player has 'spent' the money. Keep repeating this method and one will end up with the same amount of money, and a maximum gambling skill in no time.

GTA Online

 * * This game may be prohibited from playing in certain countries depending on local gaming commission rules.
 * ** The mystery reward follows a limited range of items with a variable probability based on the category of the item, meaning that winning a specific vehicle can be extremely rare overall.
 * *** The podium vehicle can be sold, but its value is notably inferior compared to a purchased example. If the player has already received the weekly podium vehicle in a previous spin, the player will be rewarded 20,000 RP instead.

Notable gamblers

 * GTA Online Protagonist
 * Roman Bellic
 * Vladimir Glebov
 * Jim Fitzgerald
 * Jon Gravelli
 * Kov-Kov
 * Terry Thorpe
 * Trevor Philips (seen being kicked out of a Casino in a Switch Scene)
 * "Cocksure" Chris Cummings
 * "Dangerous" Derrick Thornton
 * Jennifer "Trashcan" Zelinski
 * Butch Roberts
 * Terry Kim
 * Steve "Buffet Car" Jabowitz
 * Phil "Deadman" Davidson