The modern online sports betting sector is booming, and there are endless opportunities to bet on your favorite sport in hundreds of different markets.
A sports betting fan can always choose a reliable bookmaker from a list compiled by Match Center, a respectable analytical service and available at https://match.center/ng/.
With so many opportunities to bet, some sports betting fans may be tempted to think that they can make big money. They may even believe that it is possible to earn a living from sports betting. The reality, however, is different, and the risks of this belief are significant.
Sports Betting for a Living : The Reality
The fantasy of being a professional sports bettor may seem appealing. The idea of getting up late, placing a few bets, taking the rest of the day off, collecting your winnings, and then celebrating every night has an obvious attraction. Like all fantasies, however, it is not to be taken seriously.
Of the millions of people betting on sport all around the world, the number who can make a short-term profit is tiny, and the number of those who can profit in the medium term is ways smaller.
Your chances of becoming a professional sports bettor are so remote that you are probably more likely to win the lottery – and winning the lottery would be a lot more lucrative!
The Hard Work
When you bet on sport, you’re on your own. A bookmaker will employ dozens of people to set and monitor the betting markets, as well as sophisticated data programs allowing them to track the development of markets and carry out instantaneous analysis.
If you’re a sports bettor, it’s just you, doing all the work yourself. That means hour after hour of crunching numbers, watching replays, and looking through more numbers, seven days a week, with no guarantee of making any money at the end of it.
The Psychology
Even if you are one of the tiny number of people who can afford to devote hundreds of hours a month to studying the betting markets, it takes a very rare psychological makeup to be able to make a success of sports betting.
You have to be able to cope with long losing runs, to accept that hours, days and weeks of work may leave you with nothing, and yet remain calm enough to spot opportunities.
The work and the solitude involved places huge pressure on an individual and yet will most often not produce a profit.
There are many regular jobs out there that involve far less stress, shorter hours and produce a bigger return than attempting to bet on sport for a living.
The Start-Up Capital
The final barrier to being a professional sports bettor, and the reason why it is virtually impossible to achieve is the need for substantial start-up capital.
At best, you might be able to achieve a profit of 2-3% on your sports bets. In order for your sports betting to come anywhere near a modest income level, you would have to be wagering several thousand pounds per bet.
Very few people have that type of money available to bet with, and those who do are generally making money through far easier means.
A Realistic Sports Betting Approach
Chasing the fantasy of being a successful sports bettor can lead to losing large amounts of money that you cannot afford to lose, as well as psychological harm and possibly even gambling addiction.
VIEW ALSO : How to Bet on Sports : What You Need to Do As a Beginner
Unless you have a huge bankroll that you can afford to lose, almost unlimited time to devote to it, substantial expertise and a range of contacts in the betting and sports world, your chances of making a successful career out of sports betting are almost negligible.
So what is a realistic approach to sports betting? The only safe and responsible way to think of sports betting is as a fun hobby that you do in your spare time, risking only money that you can afford to lose.
There is nothing wrong with testing your sports knowledge or judgement or having an occasional bet on a big football match or horse race, but that is all your sports betting should be.
Among the unfortunate numbers of problem gamblers who lose everything, including their families, their homes and their marriages, there are many who thought that sports betting could solve their financial problems or make them rich.
They learned the hard way that this fantasy simply leads to misery.
So keep your betting fun, manageable and occasional, and you can continue to enjoy it, without the risk of becoming addicted or losing all your money in pursuit of an unachievable dream.