There are different types of bets that can be taken for
sporting
events and they vary according to the event or game itself. One of the
simplest bets that could be made is on the outcome of a match. But
bookkeepers may then try to spice up the bets and make them a little
more interesting. They will place odds on how long it will take a
particular team to score; whether or not the match will be decided
upon a penalty shootout; which players will score a goal – the
possibilities are endless and limited only to the imagination of the
bookkeeper or indeed the bettor. There was a recent story where a man
approached a bookkeeper and said to the bookkeeper that he would like
to place a bet that a player would score a goal from his own half. The
bookkeeper believing this to be a highly unlikely outcome accepted the
bet. During the match it looked like the one team was going to score,
so their goalie, feeling safe and that no-one else was around, had
wondered away from the goal. Suddenly a member of the opposing team
kicked the ball hard towards the opposite goal and from his own half.
The goalkeeper was too far out of his goal to get back to it in time
and the ball trickled over the line. The man won his bet and won
thousands in comparison to what he had wagered.
The traditional sporting event to gamble
on has been that of horseracing. It is perhaps the only sport that is
principally entirely about gambling. Unlike football, basketball,
golf, or tennis, one does not tend to support a horse in a race unless
one has bet money on it. There is no patriotism involved. There is no
camaraderie between fans; it is an unashamedly mercenary sport.
Gambling on the outcome of sporting
events may be controversial with those who see sport as a vehicle to
unite and bring people together from towns, regions or countries in
order to support their team. This is the principle upon which the
Olympic Games and many other such tournaments are played. To then
introduce gambling and betting to this phenomenon seems an unwholesome
way to generate finance and support the playing of such sports.
However, there is always uncertainty in the outcome of a match,
tournament, or a game; and where there is uncertainty; there is the
potential for a bet.
