Opening Word
The world of sports betting is as old as the sports themselves. From the earliest iterations of sports in ancient times, people would wager on the outcomes they believed to have the best chances of occurring. This of course developed a brand new form of competition, one that is off the court and away from the actual participants that are playing the game. Fast forward a couple of thousands of years and we nowadays have one of the most lucrative and fastest developing industries on the planet.
Moreover, combined with the general IT devices like computers and mobile phones, as well as the internet, it is something anyone can be a part of. This is especially true right now when socializing and human contact, in general, are limited due to the severity of the pandemic. People can no longer go to their favorite sports bars and place bets there while drinking beers and (trash) talking it with their friends and fellow sports fans. No sir, no while COVID-19 is still at large. Instead, everything has been moved online and it certainly seems like it is here to stay well after things go back to normal. As a matter of fact, doing more things on the web is the new normal.
For this reason, we decided to tackle the overall topic of online sports betting, moreover whether it is a game of luck or skill. Right here and now, to answer the titular question of the article, we have to say that it is actually both, or rather a very fine mix of both luck and skill. If you are interested in exactly what we mean by this, make sure to carefully read through the rest of the article. In case you wish to find out more on the matter and play some exciting betting games, we highly advise you to check out PowerPlay.
The Luck Part of Things
Since we are after all talking about gambling and betting, of course, there is going to be a huge amount of luck involved. First of all, you have to remember that there is no way for you to influence the sporting event in any way no matter what it is. If you pick a football game to bet on, your actions begin and end with the bets you opt to place. That is it. Everything else is for Lady Luck to decide, and she takes more often than she gives.
The reason why you cannot do anything is that you are simply picking one outcome out of the pool of countless possible outcomes. Every situation or statistic is eligible for betting these days, from the usual things like the number of goals of ball possession to more specific things like the exact minute the goal will take place, or even what the stoppage time will be. Even now that you read about you are probably wondering exactly how little sense it makes to actually believe you are in charge.
Sports in general have a lot to do with luck. Every shot at the basket, every hit of the tennis ball, and every shot on the goal has the potential of taking countless trajectories that nobody expects. Not even the athlete who performs the action is sure if it will turn out the way they pictured it. Sometimes it is better, and sometimes it is worse. Multiply this by dozens of times for all the possible things to bet on, then dozens more for all the players in the game, and then a hundred more times for all the matches taking place at the same time. The sheer amount of outcomes is luck in its finest form….
The Skill Part of Things
…or is it? Well, it is, otherwise, the three prior paragraphs would have been written in vain. What we mean to say that skill is almost equally as important as luck but only if you do things the right way. Skill in sports betting comes in a variety of different ways, and it takes the right combination of them all to become a successful bettor, or at least somebody who wins more than they lose.
First and foremost, you have to be a sports fan at heart. We do not mean a hooligan who trashes the seats after their team (the best team in the history of the galaxy of course) loses. No. We mean a passionate sports fan who follows the sport, the favorite team, and the favorite player in general. A sports fan has sports as their favorite hobby, a pastime activity they would always turn to when they are bored or have extra free time. Football, basketball, hockey, tennis, you name it. Whatever sports you enjoy that is what you bet on.
If you are wondering why, well it is because you know things about it and you can make educated guesses. By using your experience and passion for sports, you can make better predictions and limit how much luck has to do with it. You will never be able to influence the game so much as to predict an injury, a bad tackle, or an airball by the star player.
What you will be able to do is make the best and safest (or a daring but logical) bet based on the current circumstances in the league, the team, or something else. If you follow the sports world in general, you will have valuable information that you can use to shape your bets. What is more, if you are a little bit on the fanatic side of things and like to examine advanced statistics (what team and player tendencies after each game and on average), you will have the knowledge to win more often than you lose and actually make some money on the side from your hobby.
Conclusion and Takeaways
All in all, sports betting is a fine mix of both luck and skill, but only if you approach it the right way. The passion you have for sports and the knowledge you have accumulated through years of watching a few of your favorite sports is more than enough to make you a better bettor on average. While luck cannot be eliminated or influenced, you can minimize its effects by making smart moves and strategizing the correct way for every bet you make.
