To invest in a hedge fund, I believe you need to be an accredited investor. Basically, you need to make over $200k a year or have a $1,000,000 excluding your primary residence.
I'm assuming you don't consider an accredited investor to be "ordinary" in this context.
Mutual funds (and ETFs) operate relatively close to how hedge funds do, but without the risky behaviors and aggressive speculation. So, I guess, a mutual fund is probably a hedge fund for ordinary people, if you take ordinary to mean someone unable weather losing a ton of money in risky investments.
I think you can probably find some ETFs and mutual funds that take highly risky stances or short sell (inverse ETFs) and those are often open to small investments. I'm not going to share them because, well, I have no idea if they're worth putting money in.
<Wild Armchair Speculation>
It comes down to what you're allowed to advertise I think. Vegas doesn't (and probably legally could not) market itself as a legitimate money-making investment, it's just selling games. Gambling = Entertainment expenditure with the possibility of prizes.
Meanwhile, hedge funds do market themselves as legitimate money-making investments, even if there is some risk involved. Unlike Vegas, who may welcome all comers who might pay the fee, hedge funds hold a fiduciary responsibility to act in their clients' best interests. That means having a policy on minimum assets or income to ensure that the clients whose money they are legally required to act in the best interest of would be able to somewhat safely absorb the losses associated with the short-term, higher-risk investments a fast-moving hedge fund might make.
On a different tack than marketing and fiduciary responsibility, nobody can sue Vegas when they bet it all on black and take a dive. Casino managers don't get daily calls from their patrons asking why the dealer keeps winning at blackjack. Hedge Funds ensuring that the people they're dealing with have lower income worries and likely some investment experience probably reduces their customer service load by a lot.
Although, after typing all this, it seems I was answering the question "Why is it alright for hedge funds to have minimum qualifications on investors?" rather than the question I think you were originally asking, "Why is it okay for Vegas to let people gamble without so much as a credit check?"
I’m a lawyer who worked for years at a hedge fund. (Also private equity funds). You can probably find one or more low cost ETFs that pursue whatever strategy(ies) you find interesting. You won’t have to deal with filing a K1 (partnership tax return) on unrealized gains. And it will probably our perform given among other things the much higher fees you’ll pay in hedge funds. I strongly suggest you don’t invest in hedge funds.
I'm assuming you don't consider an accredited investor to be "ordinary" in this context.
Mutual funds (and ETFs) operate relatively close to how hedge funds do, but without the risky behaviors and aggressive speculation. So, I guess, a mutual fund is probably a hedge fund for ordinary people, if you take ordinary to mean someone unable weather losing a ton of money in risky investments.
I think you can probably find some ETFs and mutual funds that take highly risky stances or short sell (inverse ETFs) and those are often open to small investments. I'm not going to share them because, well, I have no idea if they're worth putting money in.