Sports Betting 101

What is Sports Betting?

Sports’ betting is a kind of gambling that involves placing a wager or a bet on the outcome of any sports event. Simply put, it is as an activity in which any two or more people wager money on the outcome of a sports event (Forbes, 2022). The basic intent of sports betting is to gain additional money. Either one wins the bet or loses it, based on which they either gain or lose the wager amount. The company that offers betting services is called as a bookmaker, bookie or betting agency or a sportsbook. A customer who places bet can be called a bettor whereas the marketplace in which the odds are set, is termed betting exchange. 

Types of Sports Betting

There are various types of sports betting. Some of the popular ones are – Money line bets that involves betting on a team’s money line for the team to win. Another type is Point spread in which the bettors bet on the margin of the win. Parlay bets are among the most popular betting forms in which for a bet to win, every leg or bet in the parlays needs to win for the bet to cash. For instance, out of the four-leg parlay, if three bets win and one fails then the bettor is said to have a losing parlay ticket. Some of the other forms of bets are single-event betting, in-game betting, proposition bets, fractional odds etc. 

Sports Betting and iGaming in Canada

One of the most flourishing niches of 2022 is iGaming. As of 2021, the market evaluators valued gaming market to be $198.40 billion which is estimated to skyrocket to the double of the existing amount by 2027. In 2022 only, iGO, the iGaming Ontario, a subsidiary of the AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario) announced their working with the Government of Ontario and AGCO to establish a complete new game market that will protect customers and will provide more suitable gaming options. This will help the consumers to access the iGaming Apps with ease owing to the availability and expansion of iGaming in Canada. Also, as of August 2021, the Canadian government has made gambling on individual sporting events legal. making the murky industry legitimate for which the Canadians have already been spending billions of dollars every year (CBC, 2021). Historically, Parlay betting had been the only legal entity but since August 2021, the empowered provinces have regulated sports betting as per their own provincial laws (WSN, 2022). 

How Does Sports Betting Work? 

There are various marketing channels that support sports betting. They vary from non-gambling environments to gambling environments. The non-gambling marketing environments are – TV, online-pop-up banners, Social media, radio, newspapers, billboards, sports stadiums, team jerseys, magazines and public transport. The gambling marketing environments are Pubs, gaming apps, TAB and clubs, to name a few. Among these channels, online-sports betting is a burgeoning marketing industry owing to the easy access and availability of the internet with the help of world wide web. 

Sports and Betting Strategies

The common sports for which sports betting is done include football, basketball, auto racing, track cycling, martial arts, boxing, baseball, hockey etc.  Sports betting may also extend to non-athletic events and even non-human sports such as horse racing, cockfighting and greyhound racing.  Also, there are different methods or strategies to bet. Some of the popular methods or strategies to sports bet includes Sports betting Hedging strategy that helps you not to lose even when you are losing the sports event. Other strategies are – Sports betting Handicapping strategy, online sports betting strategy and Sports betting underdog strategy. 

Sports Betting Odds, Payouts and Bet Types

The payouts in Sports betting work on the basis of the odds attached to one’s bet and the amount of the wager (Forbes, 2022). The potential payout is always mentioned on the betting slip, whether online or offline. For instance, sometimes it indicates the money one has wagered such that if one bets $10 to win $50, the total payout is $60. One can calculate the potential odds and payouts before making any bet (Forbes, 2022). Some online sports books can also offer payout bonuses that can boost their winning. The Bettors may also receive alert notification on receiving online bonuses. The rules are also such that the Bettors can also withdraw funds whenever they wish to (Forbes, 2022). There are many kinds of bets such as Straight Bets, Spread Bets, Parlay Bets, Total Bets, Futures Bets, Prop Bets, to name a few (Forbes, 2022). 

What is the Player Profile of Sports Bettors?

One of the Prevalence studies conducted in Canada, US, England, South Korea and the United States shows that the sports bettors are mostly men aged between 30 to 50 years. In a Canadian study by Deloitte (2022) that categorized the profiles of players as “Ardent (8.5%)”, “Casual (33%)” and “Potential (58.5%)” groups, the majority of Ardent and Casual groups had men as the key profile holders whereas the females fell in the group of Potential bettors who did not place any wager amount for the past 12 months and had lower incomes than ardent and casual group people. The study also indicated that only one in five Canadian adults were aware that single-event sports betting was now legal in the country. Moreover, 50% respondents looked out for trusted brand, 41.7% wanted rapid win payouts and 34.8% searched for the best odds. The study also indicated that the interest in online wagers has been on the rise owing to rising interests of people in website and Apps for online gaming. 

What are the Risks Associated with Sports Betting?

The most common risk associated with Sports Betting is Compulsive Gambling, commonly called as Gambling disorder. Some of the signs and symptoms associated with Compulsive Gambling disorder can be being preoccupied with gambling, constantly planning gambling activities and the urge to make more money out of sports betting/gambling. Even if the person tries to control the urge, they can’t cut back or stop betting and feels restless or irritable on trying to stop betting. Some of the escape problems include anxiety, depression, guilt and helplessness. 

Harms Associated with In-Play and Fixed-Odds Betting

The harms and risks associated with Sports betting such as in-play betting can be very alarming. Some of the recent researches indicate that the harmful features of fixed-odds betting and in-play betting can be fast outcome frequency and letting the person play multiple bets. These multiple betting make the bettors play more and multiple times for frequent gains. Thus, the harm of Sports betting is making the person addicted to bet more and more unless they lose financially and emotionally. 

Responsible Gambling Tools & Features for Sports Betting

Responsible Gambling refers to the programs that help to reduce or prevent the risks associated with Gambling (Reilly, 2017). Blaszczynski et al. (2004) suggest the need of adopting a Strategic Framework for the stakeholders to develop and implement the socially responsible policies for Responsible Gambling. 

Individual-Level Responsible Gambling

At the individual level, the key to harmless Sports betting is to helping an individual make an informed decision before enrolling for Gambling (Gainsbury et al., 2020). For instance, the internet users must read the Terms and Conditions, thoroughly check out websites; learn about the harms of Gambling before enrolling for the Sports Betting, to name a few.  The tools of limiting one’s behavior regulation can be: Self-Exclusion programs, Setting Gambling limits (Reilly, 2017) etc. 

Operator-Level Responsible Gambling

At the Operators’ level, the operators should hold the responsibility of not being overtly persuasive for gambling (Gainsbury et al., 2020). They can add other features to limit the sense of urgency (lucrative options such using countdown timers on promotions and bets) of the users that distort the cognition of the users and attract them. Additionally, the operators should not put erroneous beliefs and provide genuine feedback on the use of the gambling features. These would definitely limit the harms done by the operators to exploit the sense of urgency of the users.

Responsible Gambling Features

As far as the Responsible Gambling features are concerned, the measures such as Money & Time Control, Self-exclusion, Rules & Probability, Professional help, Privacy & Protection and Criminality Protection are some of the features considered as a part of the privacy and protection for online-gamers (Hubert & Griffiths, 2018). 

For land-based and online sports betting, some of the RG tools can be “Deposit-limits, Time-Limits, Loss-limits, time-outs and self-exclusion.

Responsible Gambling Messaging for Sports Betting

The RG Messages can play a key role in decreasing the harms related to Sports betting. Some of the RG messages that bettors can better relate to are those that can make them better bettors. These would indirectly make them responsible not to bet on those sports events that can lead them to lose bet and also help them to play safely. For older bettors, some light-hearted messages and limit-setting features can be good options. The key to using RG messages is that the harm-minimizing behaviors are promoted and that the healthy sporting is done for both the bettors and the operators. The RGs on redemption and withdrawal can be great tools to minimize harms. 

What Other Sectors are doing to Reduce Harms with Sports Betting?

The healthcare professionals play a key role in reducing Sports betting harms. Having an insight that the person themselves is getting addicted to the sports betting makes them more aware and seeking professional help can be highly beneficial for them to break the vicious cycle of sports betting. An early diagnosis of Gambling disorder and taking important measures to treat them are highly beneficial steps. 

Healthcare Assessment and Treatment

The doctor evaluating such patients make a diagnosis by asking questions related to the person’s sports gambling/betting habits. They do mental health-check and do mental-health assessment to understand the needs of the client. Based on the needs, the doctor puts them on to the medication, therapies and helping them through self-help groups to completely come out of their problem.

Tips for Talking About Sports Betting with Players

Alike a coin, there are both positive and negative aspects of a human activity that impacts them at the individual, societal, community, national and international levels. With Sports Betting becoming a legal activity in Canada as well as many countries, the harms of the activity are also evident. To minimize the risks of Sports gambling, it is important to understand the entire framework of Sports Gambling and start working effectively to minimize the aftermaths and ill consequences of such an activity. Responsible Gambling is the way by which the harms of sports betting can be minimized. RG, if practiced at all the levels in real terms, can definitely keep the risks of the gambling at bay and can also add value to the national economy to make Sports betting as an activity played in a healthy spirit.

Interested in learning more?

For more information on Bettors’ Perspectives, see https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ca/Documents/consumer-business/ca_sports_betting_report_en-aoda-new.pdf 

For more information on Responsible Gambling Strategies, see: 

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-018-6281-0