SPORT BETTING - is it healthy or unhealthy

SPORT BETTING – is it healthy or unhealthy?

Sport betting is risking a sum of money or other valued item against someone else’s on the basis of the outcome of an unpredictable event such as a race or game. It is a win or lose affair. You can bet on different games like football, baseball, tennis, volleyball, swimming, track race, high jump, long jump, hockey, javelin, basketball, sumo etc.

Sport betting has become a major thing in Nigeria. There are different agencies like NAIJA4WIN, MERRYBET, NAIRABET, BET9JA, BET365NAIJA, 360BET, SUREBET247, 1960BET, BETCOLONY, LOVING BET, and BETREPUBLICAN that engage in sport betting.

These agencies are said to help people get revenue and reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria. Revenue can be gotten from the money dropped for the placing of a bet;it could be referred to as trying one’s luck. For instance, there are about a 100 clubs for different games, if a person chooses 10 games on his ticket depending on the number of odds they have, they all must win the game. If one of the clubs the person chooses loses, he loses his money and if they all win he gains more than he drops. He might have dropped 500 Naira; if he wins, he might get a half a million, a million or even more. And if he loses, he gets nothing in return.

Yasir Biobaku, a student of Babcock University said that sport betting can also be referred to as gambling and that when people bet they either lose money they had or gain money they didn’t work for.

“Sport betting is addictive” Toluwaniyin Longe, also a student of Babcock University said. He explained that the probability of winning or losing a bet is of the ratio of 50:50. If a person doesn’t have luck on his side and he is desperate for money he would keep trying over and over again till he wins, which he might not and he ends up losing the money he could have put to better use.

“It is an avenue for people to make money online” Alao bimbo, an accounting 500 level student of Babcock University said. He also stated that it helps people think and use their instinct to make predictions.

“It’s gambling and what comes with gambling is not pretty. If you place a bet on a game what is the guarantee that the club you are vouching for would win.” Esther Afolabi, a staff at hope FM said. She further stated that most of this betting ends up in a heated argument which may result in a fight and sometimes death.

Mr Akin Adisa, a French lecturer at  Babcock University said, he loves sports and everything about it but he would never bet.  He backed this up by saying it was against his belief as a Christian.

He further stated that,he is not against the betting agencies because they serve as a medium for eradicating poverty in Nigeria.

Ayodeji Taiwo, a computer science student of Babcock University said, even though sport betting can be said to be gambling which is a sin in the bible, it is good in terms of business because it is a smart way of generating income.

Summarily, Sport betting can be both healthy and unhealthy. It can be healthy in the sense that it is beneficial to people and helps to generate income and revenue. It also helps to reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria. It is unhealthy because it is gambling and gambling can lead to a variety of problems like fights, loss of properties or even death.

Written by BANJO BOLUWATIFE K.