The manner in which a man chooses to gamble indicates his character or his lack of it.

The line proposes that gambling is not morally neutral: it functions as a revealing test of temperament and ethics. Not whether one gambles, but how—recklessly or with restraint, honestly or by cheating, with self-awareness or self-deception—exposes deeper traits such as discipline, vanity, desperation, and respect for others. The phrase “or his lack of it” sharpens the judgment, implying that certain approaches to risk (e.g., compulsive, exploitative, or dishonest play) signal an absence of character rather than merely a flaw. Read broadly, the quote treats chosen risk-taking as a microcosm of how a person handles uncertainty and desire in life.