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If Casino Odds are Better Than Sports Why Do People Lose More?

woman playing slot machine losingCasino games and sports betting are two big leisure pursuits for UK gamblers. They each bring their own sort of appeal to the table. Sports betting allows you to back your favourite teams in events around the world. While casino gaming gives you the chance to find entertainment through exciting releases.

One thing a lot of people know is that a lot of casino games have a low house edge, sometimes less than 3%.  This is often a lot lower than the margin built into the odds of a typical sports market (usually around 10%+).  Therefore, if the odds on casino games are better than those relating to sports betting, why do players lose more often? In theory, better odds should mean a better success rate, right?

But as it happens, there is a lot more to it than that. Why do people lose more when playing casino games despite their odds advantage? It is mostly down to the fact that we place more individual bets in a casino compared with sports, and so the cumulative effect means we can end up losing more in a short space of time.

If we place the same number of casino and sports bets then on average you would expect better returns from the casino, the thing is we don’t place an equal amount of bets in both and that’s why people can lose a lot more in one session.  People also tend to have a set amount they are willing to spend when gaming and will often play through that amount before stopping.  It is more common with sports to leave funds to place bets another day.

The Difference Between Betting on Sports and Casino Games

oddsThere is an obvious difference with the time and frequency by which bets occur. Sports games take place on a predetermined schedule and they only run for a specified period. In essence, gamblers have to wait for these times and events before placing bets. They do not have any control over that fact, and nor are they able to influence the outcomes.

Because casino games are not as time-bound as sports, players can play whenever. They are a lot more convenient for gamblers, to put it in simpler terms. Not only that, but casino games have a simpler edge to them in general. Sports betting requires you to do research and get to know more about the events/teams. With a casino game, once you know how to play, little changes.

It stands to reason that the odds for the two areas are different, too. The odds that a bookie will offer depends on the likelihood of something happening. The less likely an event is to happen, the higher the bookmaker odds will be. With casinos, this is similar, but the odds are fixed in stone. Let’s use roulette as an example. In this game, you receive a 1:1 payout if you are successful with a red or black bet. If it’s a straight-up bet on a single number that is successful, you get a 35:1 payout.

But even though that’s the case, there is a downside to casino odds. They’re always designed to favour the house. Despite roulette having a low house edge most of the time, there are factors playing against you. The frequency with which you can bet on roulette is the first issue.

A single round of wagering on it takes around 10-20 seconds. Once the ball in the wheel has landed, any payouts occurs and it’s on to the next round. Casino gamers can play many rounds of a game one after the other. And each round requires players to place wagers. Betting 50 times in a row on a game of roulette, for example, compounds the margin. This means that it is more likely that you will lose while playing. Even if you keep betting on red all the time, in the end you will lose your money.

With sports betting, consecutive wagers tend to take place over an extended timeframe and all your wagers aren’t occurring in a rapid fire one-after-the-other scenario. Someone betting on an upcoming football match may choose a couple of markets to wager on. Or it may be the case that they select an accumulator to create and gamble on. It may then occur that they don’t make another sports bet for a few days or a week. The bets stretch out over a longer period.

Why Do People Lose More on Casino Games?

group of people playing roulette

If you think about it, you can sort of disregard the odds for a moment. Yes, casino game odds may be better than sports market odds. But the real key point to focus on is how much gamers bet and how often. It would be true to say that a single wager of 50p on a casino game is possible. That’s generally the case with slots, roulette, blackjack or anything else. But the point is that there aren’t so many, if any, gamers who stick at that.

Playing casino games doesn’t often entail placing a single small bet and then leaving. It’s more so the case that players like to stick around for many rounds, rather than just the one. And it is this mindset that leads to the losses building up in the end. People place so many more individual bets on casino games that they lose a lot more money all at once. This means that the best way to go about betting on casino games would be the following:

  1. Enter the casino or login online
  2. Find a game like blackjack or roulette to play
  3. Place a single wager on the lowest margin possible
  4. Regardless of the outcome, leave the casino or logout

That is, of course, something that anybody can do but for many it defeats the object for why they play games, which is often for a period of entertainment, as well as to try to win. People want entertainment from their casino gameplay most of the time and that kind of setup and route to playing games wouldn’t fulfil such needs. It would save money in the long run, but then again, so would not gambling at all.

Instead, what most people visiting a casino do is set aside an amount to spend. This usually goes by the name of their bankroll. There aren’t many people who walk out of a casino with more than that at the end of the night. It is usually the case that the opposite occurs. They keep playing games until that bankroll is no more.

It’s a “play until nothing remains” scenario. Gamers tend to have that mindset in different strengths, though. Someone with a strong mindset on gambling often suffers from problems. In the case of many gambling addicts, it’s the feeling of winning a round that they like. Once that feeling has disappeared (i.e., as soon as the round ends), they want it again so they bet more money as a way of acquiring it and that’s the continuous loop they experience.

This is the exact situation experienced by Stacey Goodwin. When she was 18, she became hooked on slot machine gameplay. In 2011, she worked in a bookmaker shop and tried one of the slots out. From that moment, she couldn’t stop herself. Stacey lost hundreds of thousands of pounds through the gambling machines. In 2017, she lost £50,000, and tried ending her life twice. Her need for entertainment and the feeling of a win took over. Like other gamblers of all kinds, she played many consecutive rounds at once. This led to her monumental losses.

When it comes to sports betting as an alternative, it is more common to not bet all of your money in one session. Bettors often hold funds back so that they can bet on things happening in the future. If a sports bettor knows that a big tournament is coming up, they may want to wager on it.

Several big sporting events happen throughout the year. From football tournaments to cricket events and tennis championships etc. There is always something happening. It is due to this that sports bettors more often than not reserve money for all these events. This leads to a much more extended betting setup. And that differs in a big way from casino games.

There is more potential to be successful with sports bets. People tend to put a bit more effort into researching the sports and the teams and this can lead to them making more informed decisions on their wagers. Whereas with casino gaming, it’s more so a case of bet, bet, bet and see what happens. That’s because there isn’t a lot of skill required for slots or video poker, for example. With sports betting, you can gain knowledge to make your wagers more likely to come out on top.

Is It Better to Place Bets on Sports?

sports betsThere isn’t anything that says you should bet on one or the other. When it comes down to it, you can lose money betting on casino games or sporting events. There is nothing that can ever guarantee you will always win with any gambling. That’s always something to keep in mind when you are using your own money to place bets.

Both of these activities are very popular across the UK and around the world. As mentioned, not everybody gambles for the definitive outcome of being successful. Some people like the general entertainment factor. Others like putting gaming skills or sports knowledge to use. People gamble on different options for different reasons.

It all depends upon what you’re looking for from your gambling experience. Some people will gravitate in a natural way towards sports betting. The UK population does tend to enjoy sporting events after all. But it is also a nation of gamers as well and there will also be some crossover of video game lovers with casino gamers.

It is key to note that there hasn’t been such a huge crossover of sports bettors and casino gamers, though. That may come as a bit of a surprise considering that they operate in close quarters. But for the most part, gamers and bettors have different gambling mindsets.

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, reports arose of online sportsbooks pushing people to casino. Thanks to the fact that so few sporting events were taking place, bookies began panicking. Nobody knew how long the lockdowns were going to last at that stage and so, to try and keep revenue up, these sportsbooks thought the casino would fill in.

888 Holdings did indeed see an increase in the number of people accessing casino games. This, it said, was due to the lack of sports for betting on. Yet despite this, there wasn’t a massive increase in figures. Not so many sports bettors chose to move across to playing casino games during that time.

That could be due to several reasons. But one of those reasons was likely the fact that sports bettors gamble in a different way. They may know that they could suffer more losses if playing casino games. Whereas with sports, the odds may be worse in general, but they get more out of it.

In the same vein, it’s not the case that a huge number of casino gamers bet on sports events. Each type of gambler tends to stick to one or the other in general. Of course, there will be a slight crossover in place. But for the most part, sports bettors like sports betting. And casino gamers like casino game gambling. Thus, neither one is officially “better than the other”.

Sports are ultimately uncertain where as casino games have fixed parameters.  It is possible for bookmakers to misprice markets or for punters to use knowledge to exploit odds they think are better than they should be.

Margins for sports bets are generally worse compared to casino games and that is because there is more risk as the bookie cannot be sure of any given outcome.  It is this very fact though why you can in theory find more value in sports than casino if you do enough research.

It is never possible to beat a casino game over time without cheating but you can be a successful sports bettor – although even with sports most people are more likely to lose than win overall.

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