American people are well known for risk taking. Back in the old days, they indulged in all forms of gambling; bare-knuckle brawls, cockfights, makeshift horse races or any sort of gaming activity where they could bet. Colonial people who settled in USA indulged in betting for recreation and entertainment. For these people, betting was a natural part of their way of life. Online gambling has been banned for Americans. However, betting is allowed for Americans in certain websites.
sports betting is good money if you play smart
It is found that in Nevada where betting is legal, it was a whopping $2.76 billion business in the year 2010. Studies have shown that this amount is less than 1% of total money involved in betting allover USA. In fact National Gambling Impact Study Commission estimates this amount to be approximately $380 billion. Of the $2.76 billion business nearly 94% of betting money was returned to bettors as winning amount and the gross revenue for the operators was $151.1 million. In the year 2009, Casinos in Las Vegas earned roughly 5.31% of the total amount of $2.4 billion bet on all forms of sporting activities. ESPN magazine estimated that all over USA, the annual turnover of online betting business on all sports activities was about $63 billion.
Brighter side of legalized betting in Nevada is that it has given employment to thousands of people and the state has earned substantial income because of 30 million tourists visiting Nevada mainly for betting activities.
Betting began with horse racing which was the only event where people indulged in betting activity for so many years. Even then, in the beginning, it was only affluent people of the society who indulged in horse race betting activities more out of fun than with any intention of earning money.
In the late 19th century Baseball started attracting bettors and Baseball ‘pool cards’ which are similar to ‘parlay cards’ used in present day betting activities, offered a wide variety of choice to Baseball bettors. Unfortunately these ‘pool cards’ were designed to favor betting houses which ensured no bettor could win substantially in the long run.
Twentieth century saw increased volumes of betting with college Football and college Basketball gaining popularity. Even Hockey and boxing saw an increase in betting activities.
The most popular sports event that attracts major share of betting is March Madness college Basketball tournament which grossed approximately $120 million this year (2012). Next in the line is the Super Bowl Football tournament which earned roughly $94 million this year.
It is estimated that almost one out of four Americans indulges in betting at least once in a year and about 15% Americans bet on a regular basis on one sports or the other.
With matches being telecast live, and the internet accessible to almost everybody, online betting started gaining popularity. With money transaction being very easy through online channels, online betting has surpassed land based betting. Now a bettor can bet on any sports without leaving the comfort of his house. Some of the more popular types of bet are: Straight Bet, Teaser, Parlay, Over/Under, Round Robin Bet and Reverse Bet.
In the present day environment, because of bookies’ greed to earn more money match fixing is rampant with the result that bookies are reaping the harvest at the cost of poor bettors who are losing money. The only round this problem is by betting with licensed bookmakers, if you choose online betting. Check the reputation of the bookmaker by reading online reviews and through referrals. Smart betting begins by choosing reliable bookmakers. Betting, when done smartly, can bring in a lot of money. So, check out your options and bet on the best team.
