Sports betting and gambling: The difference explained
Too often we see the words ‘gambling’ and ‘sports betting’ used interchangeably by punters and bookmakers alike. In fact, on any bookmakers list, one will certainly come across both words used for the same act. But is this right? Are gambling and sports betting the same? Or, are there any differences distinguishing them, no matter how small or subtle they can be? Let’s see this frequently asked question through the generic definitions and meanings of the two.
What is gambling?
First of all, gambling is defined as any act of placing a wager on an outcome that is uncertain. An act can be called gambling, if it satisfies three conditions: consideration, chance and prize. A person places a bet (consideration), on an event whose outcome is unknown (chance) in order to win (prize). If we consider this definition, then sports betting is an act that satisfies all three criteria: a punter places the bet on a sports event prior to taking place and expects to receive profits if the bet wins. So, sports betting is definitely a form of gambling if we look at the generic meaning of gambling.
Differences between gambling and sports betting
But there are some very important, yet subtle differences, which eventually put sports betting at the spotlight when it comes to equalizing it with gambling. There are many people who believe that sports betting is not gambling, especially since for these people it is a matter of skills and competencies in making more accurate predictions and in developing and implementing strategies. This perspective sounds more bizarre than it actually is. Sports betting involves betting on a sports event (for which the outcome is uncertain) so as to win money - but the outcome of the sports event in many cases, is not so uncertain as in the case of pure chance (which is what the generic concept of gambling considers). There are a number of different factors, which contribute to the outcome of the event and for which if punters obtain knowledge, they can make more informed decisions and so go beyond pure ‘chance’.
In sports events, two teams or two players are combating each other to win. But the outcome is not -in most cases - the result of chance. It is the result of so many different factors, which have their own role to play. Take a tennis match for example and just think of all the factors that influence the final outcome - from the weather conditions to the tennis court type and from the psychology of the players to their fit condition and fatigue, these are only some issues to take into account. All these have their own impact on the outcome and as such the element of chance and luck when betting on an event, is effectively diminished and loses its dominance. If a punter has access to information that is critical for a match that he wants to place a bet on, then he is going to certainly make a decision that is substantially more ‘informed’. So, how can this be pure gambling?
More on this, if the punter has developed skills in analyzing the information available and making more accurate forecasts, then it is more likely that his decisions and choices over bets are not based on random predictions but on systematic analysis. And if so, then isn’t this the case that betting is not gambling, but an application of the punter’s skills and competencies?
And if we go a step further into this thinking, isn’t it that a punter who develops skills and competencies, is eventually able to devise a more sophisticated, planned and explicit strategy when it comes to betting? If we take a moment to consider these, then we can surely see that sports betting is so close but so far away from gambling at the same time. It involves the same process (wager, event, prize) and so one can argue that it is a form of gambling, but it is largely different from gambling when we think about the element of ‘chance’.
The “verdict”
Of course chance and luck are always present in sports betting because they are inherent elements in the sports themselves, however, they are not the only or absolute ‘determinants’ of outcomes of games and matches. There are so many other factors that intervene and if punters have access to information and data, if they analyze them effectively and strategically and if they develop strategies then they can certainly place wagers on those outcomes of sports events that are more likely to happen and not on those outcomes that are fundamentally ‘unknown’.
