Betting is different: how bookmakers differ from casinos

Why it was necessary to make gambling zones, if today everyone is betting on sports. As long as there is sport, the results of tournaments will be disputed and bets will continue to be placed on them.

This is the case not only in sports, but in any field where competitions are held. Bets are also accepted on Eurovision, and on film festivals. There is a demand, there will be a supply, and there will always be offices which will accept bets. Another thing is how their activity is regulated by law. In Russia bookmakers are obliged to deduct money for sports, and they often sponsor whole tournaments and sports broadcasting.

Literally at the end of 2020 a new law was passed, which from this year should change the life of bookmakers. The essence of this amendment is that a special center will monitor revenue and deductions to sports. And if all the revenue is taken into account, then one and a half percent may end up being much higher than the previous five. And the minimum has doubled.

Time will tell whether such a contribution to sports is enough. Such laws are periodically revised. As well as proposals to completely equate bookmakers to casinos.

Still, there is a difference. And to act as the famous octopus Paul wants many sports fans. Even if they bet on interest, they analyze many of the raw data known before the same soccer game. That is, it is not a mindless bet – unlike playing with a one-armed bandit.

Both sports and healthy gambling are part of human life. It is clear that without betting on horse races we would not have racecourses with their traditions, and would there be horse breeding itself? It is clear that we cannot do without advertising.

Another thing is how it looks like. It’s one thing if they put it in special ads, with an age restriction of 18+. By the way, sports channels comply with these norms. The advertisement of bookmaker’s office is more intrusive on some sports websites and very often it overlaps the content.

Is it correct to contrast the current advertisement of bookmakers with the antigambling advertisement, which was widespread before the full reformatting of the gambling industry in 2009? But we must realize that a rather aggressive campaign against casinos was exactly what was needed then; it was a response to what the gambling industry turned into in the noughties.

Back then there were not only respectable casinos where the big money went, but also a crazy number of small clubs, basements and semi-basements with one-armed bandits, whose main customers were kids with parental money. And even the working class completely lost their daily earnings on one-armed bandits. After all, all these places were practically on every corner.

How to do this to bookmakers? In my opinion, it’s still a different kind of gambling. You can lose your money on sports betting like in a casino. But it’s time for adults to use their own brains instead of waiting for the government to protect them from everything. This is first of all. And secondly, let’s remember how the closure of casinos in their time gave rise to many illegal gaming rooms and clubs. And how many laws had to be passed to be able to use at least some kind of power to their owners.

Prohibitions are not the answer. Let the sports gambling be only healthy.

Play without stopping?

Euro 2020 is over. Before the match, during halftime and afterwards we were told that we had to place our bets.

Look at sports competitions on our television. A large part of advertising time is taken up by the promotion of bookmakers.

Now the Euro 2020 is over. Before the match, at half-time and after it, they were drumming into our heads the idea that we should bet. Some bookmaker offices explained that “just like a car is inconceivable without a motor, a burger without meat, so soccer is inconceivable without a bet”, while others, upon registration, promised to give a couple thousand rubles as a bonus. Just play. Sports commentators on television regularly convince us to place our bets and tell us what they would bet on now. We are taught that betting for money in betting shops is normal, progressive and completely in keeping with the spirit of sport.

And what is better than betting on sports?

No matter how you look at it, we are still dealing with a game of chance, even if it is well disguised with the idea of a sporting competition. Someone, of course, may think that knowing the sport, he successfully calculates the probability of this or that outcome. But even at roulette and slot machines one can calculate the probability. Only the rule in the betting business is exactly the same as in other gambling establishments: “You want to win at the casino, buy yourself a casino.”

The same addiction that is commonly referred to as gambling addiction can be seen in the sports betting craze. This is evidenced by the regular claims made about athletes. I also have several acquaintances, who gamble uncontrollably. They bet on everything they can: biathlon, tennis, even the American Hockey League (second only to the NHL). Betting hasn’t made them rich and hasn’t brought them much happiness either.

There is no doubt that the betting business has a huge turnover. At least once, 4.7 million people bet on sports.

It should not be forgotten that any bookmaker’s office lays in each odds percentage, which allows it not to remain without its benefits for any result of the sporting event, on which the bet was opened. That is, both lost and won bets bring income. Not surprisingly, the big bookmakers earn a billions.

They say that gambling cannot be banned. It is no coincidence that even in the Soviet Union there were betting on the hippodromes, there were various lotteries. But the Soviet state did not glorify the owners of the big winnings, as it was, say, in the United States, and the amounts were many times smaller than those offered today. Today, with the development of new technology, gambling went beyond the casino. All you have to do is download an application to your smartphone and you can start betting. The casino has come into every home.