Gambling and betting are two sides of the same coin and this can be traced back to the time of Mahabharata where Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, was lured into gambling. Hemindlessly kept increasing the stakes only to lose everything in the end. In today’s world, a similar practice takes place in different forms and its rapidly increasing popularity across competitive slot games is alarming despite the risk involved. People place their bets on races and other sports to prove their knowledge and to show their loyalty towards a particular team or competitor. It enlivens the one-sided contests by offering odds to the game.
Horse-racing
Wagering on horse races is the most prevalent form of sports betting across the world including India. It involves various forms of wagers like horizontal, vertical, and exotic bets and it is necessary to distinguish between them. Placing a wager on this sport necessitates research and a thorough understanding about the players, horses involved, their form, the racetrack, among multiple other things.
Cricket
Cricket is at the heart of Indians and is not merely a game or a source of entertainment to them. Consequently, it attracts a lot of attention from betting enthusiasts who don’t seem to miss an opportunity to place stakes before, during and after the course of the match. The risk is calculated and their strategies are based on their expertise in understanding how the game works. This is drawn from past performances by the players, pitch condition, etc. People play their chance on various kinds of bets, which are as follows:
- Top Batsman
- Top Bowler
- Completed Match
- Tied Match
- Series Winner
- Win Toss
- Runouts
Football
The craze for football is tremendous across the country and expectedly, the stakes are high too. A straight bet is common to both, cricket and football. The over/under which is the total number of points scored in a game, also forms ground for a wager. The bettors also lock in all their odds on ‘futures’ which gives them to the opportunity to wager on the outcome of a season.
While there are different angles through which this topic can be seen, the matter of focus is the intention behind it. The notion of considering gambling as something negative or demonic used to prevail in India and it remains a contentious topic. It is still unclear why certain forms of it like horserace betting and lottery are legal while others are not.