In a strict sense if you are not risking your own money I would not define it as gambling.

Actually the most I have made from a single post was 9.5 Steem. Normally I make about 100x or more than the amount I get from curation. Curation gives me about 0.001 to 0.007 steem per post. I haven't done the exact math but it's around that.

You can say it's pennies but it adds up overtime.