Risk inherently means there is a possibility of failure. If you don’t wash your hands, you could wind up sick. If you play in a busy street, there is a good chance you’ll wind up in the hospital or morgue. If you put all your money on one stock, you could become rich or have a lot of scrap paper lying around.
When a person feels they have nothing to lose, they take big risks. The more money and success someone has, they become risk averse.