Making money online can be fun and many people love the idea of having a business or source of income that is built entirely on the internet. I mean, who wouldn’t want to? It is clean, earning potentials are often unlimited. The earnings come from a wide array of sources which could range from easy familiar ones like ecommerce to more complex but no less rewarding ones like sports betting. This, in turn, ranged from the casual offline betting most people know to sophisticated online bookmakers who run crypto betting sites.
But the big question this article tries to deal with is the relevance of sports betting. Why should anyone bet on sports? But before we go into the details of why anyone should consider betting on sport or not, let us take a look at sports betting and what the whole thing looks like.
Background Information about Sports Betting.
From common knowledge, the word ‘sports’ entails physical competitive activities which can be done as a team or on an individual basis but where each competitor or team strives to win. Betting – on the other hand – is all about wagering money in favour of a given outcome. As anyone can guess, sports betting involves staking a given amount of money in favour of the desired outcome.
Now, these outcomes could vary. They could range from a chosen team picking up the win to an exact number of outcomes in a given sporting event. For instance, a punter could predict that there will be 6 yellow cards in a game of soccer or that there will be no more than 5 home runs in a particular match. Betting can be done following two major routes: online or offline. Offline betting is the traditional method which we know. In this type, the bettor goes to a betting terminal – which is a brick and mortar establishment – to manually select his preferred outcomes and place a wager. He is likely going to be handed a slip which contains details of his bet. This slips will serve as evidence that he placed a bet and is entitled to any wins that his correct predictions bring his way.
Online betting is however different from offline betting. Needless to say, it is easier and way faster. Punters do not have to leave the comfort of their homes to successfully place a bet. They can do it from their phones, laptops and basically any device that has access to the internet. Another obvious difference between this and offline betting is that online sports betting portals are way fewer than the plenitude of offline sports betting terminals yet way faster.
There are also a lot of sporting events to place bets on. Anyone who is interested in betting can bet on soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, dog race, horse race and even a ton of virtual games. Basically, it is fair to say that no matter the type of sporting activity you are interested in, you will find that there is a way you can bet on it. Need I mention that there are a ton of websites where you can do this.
Having learnt the basics of what you need to learn, we shall proceed further. The question to tackle here is this: Should you bet on sports?
Very obviously, sports betting is a great way to make money online and legally so. But should you do it? I’d say YES. But there are things you must know.
Factors to Consider Before Betting on Sports
While betting on sports can be a very lucrative venture, it is important to note that several factors affect and will affect anyone’s betting career. Not everyone becomes a millionaire through betting yet a good number of people win big from time to time. What then are the things that the ones who win do or know which the ones who don’t do not know?
Let’s get down to it.
Frequency of Betting
You will have to decide on whether you want to be a full-time punter or a part-time punter. Your expected earnings and expected losses will depend heavily on your routine as a punter. People who place bets every day are expected to run into luck more often than the one who does so once a week or even far less frequently. While frequency, as I discuss here, has to do with the possibilities of winning, there is another very important factor that we must take into consideration. Addiction.
It may be safe to say that nothing is worth being addicted to. That includes betting. With uncontrollable desire to bet comes an increase in the risk of making reckless calculations which could lead to losses. Ideally, if you must bet, then do so brilliantly. For people just getting started in the online gaming sphere, it is advisable to trade with dummy cash or the online deposit bonus that most bookmakers give new users.
Understanding Outcomes
Knowledge is power. This is not just a wise saying. It is a truth that has stood the test of time. The people who tend to win most in the art of sports betting are people who already have a background in sports. I must state now that one does not have to become a sports analyst before being able to earn from the games. In fact, there is such a thing called analysis paralysis which could prevent potential bettors from moving forward with a given selection of bets they may have wanted to place. Too much information can be “bad” right?
But total ignorance is even worse. Before thinking of staking a dime of our money in favour of any outcome, it makes perfect sense to understand the basics of the game. Smart betting is key. Here is an interesting example of the game of soccer. We will illustrate with the Juventus men’s senior team of the 2019/2020 Serie A season. This team parades formidable strikers like Cristiano Ronaldo, Dybala and Higuain – all three strikers being dangerous threats for any team they go against in a football match. However, in a situation where Dybala (for instance) will be missing a match due to the need to recover from injury, and Ronaldo has a red card which automatically disqualifies him from participating in his team’s next game; the potential outcome of the game will be totally different. A wise bettor will alter his bet. Instead of favouring Juventus to win with all certainty, he may choose Juventus to either win or draw especially if Juventus are competing against a team that is not doing pretty bad as well.
Budget for Betting
We have talked about how often one should bet and how that is going to potentially affect their betting behaviour. That was followed by the need to master the art of sports betting. Now we look at what is perhaps the most important factor in all of this – money. As long as betting is concerned, it takes money to make money. Talking about budget, the avid punter will have to set aside a certain amount of money that he can afford to bet with.
It is unwise to bet without budgeting. Ideally, the punter has to allocate a fraction of their earnings for betting activities such that in the event of a loss, there is a sort of check which hedges against excessive loss. And when there are a lot of wins, the punter can certainly increase the amount of money he budgets for betting. The idea is to ensure that he does not get too greedy or addicted. This point cannot be overemphasized. The pathway to addiction to sports betting is very wide and it takes a lot of discipline to bet with wisdom. Using a weekly or monthly budget would be an essential part of this wisdom.
Sports betting remains one of the many legitimate means of making money online. It is even one of the online activities that can pay the fastest. To be honest, anyone can go from being a nobody to being a millionaire in a space of one hour should they be in luck. I actually recommend it to people who have the extra cash to play with. However, it must be done correctly. First, a deep understanding of how betting works is essential to success when you put your money on the line.
Next, you will have to decide on whether you want to bet full-time or part-time as this will largely influence your betting behaviours and very importantly, prevent you from becoming addicted. Lastly, you need a special budget for this. You cannot afford to deep hands into your savings or upkeep money as you will go broke in the event a bet goes wrong. Remember, it is advisable to put disposable income at stake when you do. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment sections below. Have you ever placed a bet before? Won it? Lost? I will be glad to read your thoughts.
