The objective of sports betting or any kind of betting for that matter is to “beat the odds” weather you calculate the outcome, make a educated guess or just rely on plain dumb luck as long as you can beat the odds you are sure to win, sports betting gives a person the opportunity to pick their side and definitely gives new meaning to the phrase staying with you decision.
But is sports betting legal in USA? For years the only legal form of gambling was horse racing in fact USA’s horse racing history can be traced back to 1797 a full Century before the Durban July in 1897, then in 1996 horse racing’s long monopoly of the sports gambling industry came to an end when gambling was legalised.
All over the world Americans are known for their passion when it comes to sports, so it comes as no surprise that since 1996 sports betting has become increasingly popular growing over the years in leaps and bounds one of the biggest betting booms came with the 2010 soccer world cup, because it is so difficult to give an exclusive, accurate, independent statistics for sports betting a estimate was made by the AmericanGambling Board, gambling in USA excluding online wagering doubled from 2002 – 2011 to 13.5 billion rand.
Sport betting can how ever be very confusing, which is why it is so important to know the rules for the specific sport you are placing a bet on, take football for example.
- If the match is a draw on a handicap bet any bets for the win will then be counted as losers.
- When a bet is set on 80 min play time, extra or over time will not count on that specific bet unless it has been otherwise stipulated.
- Any match that has been postponed and not replayed within 36 hours is considered void or not valid.
- If so stated penalty tries will count in bets placed on a first try basis.
These are only a few examples of the rules when betting on a American Football match It is plain to see though whether you are betting on football, baseball, soccer, hockey, tennis, horse racing or golf sports betting is not as cut and dry as it may seem, and unless it is a friendly bet made amongst friends it is not for the faint hearted.