Sports betting is one of the most popular pastimes among fans of athletic competitions. However, due to the rise of online betting, a lot of sports fans are becoming exposed to a different way to gamble; Online casinos. The reason for this crossover is simple; a lot of online bookies double as casinos, and vice versa.
Many people draw a clear distinction between betting and gambling. However, upon closer inspection one might come to the conclusion that they are quite similar. In this article, we would like to look at both online casinos, like Christchurch Casino and one of the numerous online bookies, discuss what makes them similar, and also talk about why somebody might like one but not the other.
Similarities
The truth is that there are quite a lot of similarities between betting and gambling. Both involve wagering one’s own hard-earned money on an outcome that is out of one’s control. At online casinos, people bet on games of chance, and at sportsbooks people wager on athletic competitions that, for the most part, could go either way.
Both gambling and sports betting are timeless practices, which have been going on since the ancient world (or maybe even earlier). That means that there is something inherent in humans that drives us to play games of chance, or wager on competitions. But, similarities are not the only things worth looking at. There are also some other connections apart from the two industries being similar.
Connections
One of the most obvious connections is the existence of sports-themed slot games. Online slots developers often imbue their game with a certain aesthetic. One of the most popular aesthetics is sports, and especially the really popular sports like football, soccer, basketball, baseball, and car racing. More often than not, these games don’t include any actual athletes, however, you might see caricatures that look quite familiar.
Another connection is one we already touched on. A lot of online casinos double as sportsbooks, and vice versa. The reason for that must be because the operators have noticed that gamblers tend to visit bookies, and that there is a lot of crossover between the two fandoms. So, there is a built-in connection right from the start.
Differences
Of course, there are some major differences between online casinos and bookies. The big one being that online gambling games mostly rely on luck, rather than numbers. Slots, roulette, blackjack, etc. are all chance-based games. In other words, there isn’t much strategizing you can do that will lead to a positive or negative outcome. That is not so for sports books.Bookies use odds to determine which club, team, or player is most likely to win the game. Odds are mathematical representations of each team’s chances, and of course, some teams have a greater chance than others. Of course, odds are not 100% accurate and infallible. However, they are quite useful in determining which of the two sides has the better odds of winning. Therefore, it isn’t accurate to say that sports betting is wholly luck-based.
