Sports Gambling Can Be A Risky Business Articles | Gambling

By: Richard Bleuze

Sports Gambling Can Be A Risky Business.

There are only two situations in which taking an enormous risk can be rationally justified for most sports bettors.  The first situation is one driven by necessity. If every possible outcome of doing nothing is worse than the consequences of taking the huge risk, then you have nothing to lose. The other situation is one driven by knowledge. If the possible payoff of the risk is big enough, then it may be worth taking, especially, if the sports bettor knows what he or she is doing.  I'm often reminded of the following story involving Bob Stupak. 

Bob Stupak is the owner of several casinos, builder of the Stratosphere, and long time Vegas player.  Bob Stupak understands sports gambling better than most sports bettors.  Thus, when Superbowl 23 came around and Stupak decided to lay a million dollars on the Bengals to come up with a win, he was not too worried by all of the second guessing and scared attitudes around him. He had a good spread, he knew the team was up to it, and he could feel it was time.

Bob Stupak, unlike most sports bettors, knew what he was doing.  Before the game even started, Bob had set himself up with a nice enough spread that four points did not mean to him what it would to the average sports bettor. Bob still walked away with a million dollars in prize money, after betting on a losing team.

However, it can be said that sports gambling is the kind of risk that is often driven by greed.  However, you do not lay down the dollars, unless you know something about sports betting and unless you think that somehow you might make a whole bunch of money.  This is why many sports bettors tend to avoid really difficult bets, but it is also why we avoid the overly easy bets as well.  There is no sense in risking my hundred dollars for the possibility to win one hundred ten dollars no matter how good the odds are.  I would only be making ten dollars, and there is a chance that I could lose my hundred dollars.  It is just not worth it to many sports bettors!

That is why risk takers with knowledge are willing to place bets that will payoff!

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