I really want to create a site like Hubpages for instance where anyone can submit articles on nearly anything, but how do I go about doing it. Would I have to hire a designer, or would it be possible with Wordpress or some other CMS?
Mainly a designer can only do the design part(Graphical area,Abject placements...etc) this thing can be done using HTML,CSS,Adobe Fireworks,Adobe Flash....But to develop a application like "hubpages" you need to have Web development skills in a scripting language like PHP or you have to hire a developer who have a fluency in PHP. That is the basic idea of evolving a "hubpages" like website. You can lean basic PHP from this place - http://www.w3schools.com/php/default.asp Good luck
Hubpages is not a gambling site at all! Hubpages is just a place where you can publish articles. It enables "hubbers" to earn revenue from industry-standard advertising vehicles such as Google AdSense, Kontera, and the eBay and Amazon Affiliates program.
You should use the technology you now the best. But I agree with ceylongeek about scripting languages. You can read at php tutorial why it is so important. In any way, I think it is too difficult for one person to make such site.