Drugs, alcohol, gambling, abuse.  

I live in the UK and so far i am on my second management company.Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.many thanksJohn

Otherwise you're literally just gambling, not investing. 

People tend to spend money to escape reality, STR provides that and makes it affordable when homes holds high occupancy.A good property manager will know which months are typically low for US audience (Feb/May/Oct) and have a good revenue strategy for the homeowner to increase occupancy (ie Feb = Brazilian tourist high season, May = cheerleading teams competitions, Oct = UK holiday season), in addition to dynamic pricing and list optimization.

It is popular with UK travelers.

I've never been a gambler, but a calculated risk shouldn't be seen as gambling. 

But much like the stock market, you're gambling on an Apple or a Google, and may end up with a Theranos;) If you diversify, and one of the deals goes south, your losses will be offset, and you can get out and move into another deal.

That being said, there are also a million ways to waste money in Las Vegas, from gambling to strip clubs, to dining and drinking out frequently & shopping for non-essential items.

Unless you just have loads of money to gamble with. 

Appreciation is "gambling", no one can predict the market, nobody.