Sports betting – the new gambling addiction robbing Ghanaian men of their savings

ruth

November 21, 2018 8:50 PM

Sports betting – the new gambling addiction robbing Ghanaian men of their savings

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Today, there are a million and one betting companies operating and rapidly expanding across the country, touting their “high” odds and diverse betting types to entice users …. These companies do nothing but give you creative ways of losing your money.

It is almost impossible to drive through any street in the country without seeing a billboard advertising one betting company or another. Every Tv-station, every radio station, now seems to run adverts for these companies. The betting industry is expanding rapidly and its easy to see why; business is booming for them. A large number of young Ghanaian males have convinced themselves that they can get rich quick by invoking their knowledge in football to make money. But how real is that dream, really?

In my small group of friends and colleagues, I am acquainted with about 6 people who bet on football matches religiously every week. Not a single one of them has won more money than they have lost. While my friends may not represent the entire betting population, they definitely give you an idea of what to expect with the industry as a whole. Every week, hundreds of thousands of football enthusiasts bet on football matches; bets which very few of them end up winning. The large majority who do not win convince themselves that they could win the next time around. The few who win fancy their chances of winning again and re-bet their winnings the next week. The cycle continues….

This is not to suggest that there aren’t people who have won large amounts of money from betting. Last year, Betway, one of the biggest betting companies in the country broke jackpot records after it famously paid a sum close to GHc1 million to a 23-year-old for correctly predicting the results of 14 football matches. In an interview, Kwame Fosuhene the winner of the jackpot, said his winnings weren’t enough to deter his from betting again and he would continue betting to increase his wealth. If that isn’t addiction, I do not know what is.

Perhaps the most amusing thing about the way sports betting works is how the betting odds are calculated. One phenomenon that runs through with all betting companies is that results that have a high chance of occurring have small betting odds (meaning you win less money for predicting them). The results that are less likely to happen on the other hand have large odds (meaning you win more money if they occur). The betting companies are therefore enticing you to bet on unlikely events occurring; a game that is literally rigged in their favor.

In any case, the money made from placing a single bet is seldom enough to be called a profit. It seems like the only way to make any significant winnings from betting is to either bet large sums of money (thereby increasing how much you stand to lose), or string together several different bets to compound your profits. Note that the more bets you string together, the less likely you are to win that bet. Football in itself is a generally unpredictable sport where upsets and unlikely events occur every other week.

It is therefore illogical to place one’s dreams, aspirations or ambitions to get rich on such a doubtful venture.

It is often hilariously said that the lottery (or gambling) is a secret government tax on people who do not understand maths; I concur.

By Elijah Adiasany (elijahadiasany95@gmail.com).

The author of this story first published it for the

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