The wagering of either money or material goods of value on the outcome of a chance happening, such as roulette or dice-throwing, or where an element of skill can be used to judge the likelihood of an outcome, such as in horse racing or football. Gambling takes place in some form in every country of the world, from the cockfights of the Philippines to the various forms (roulette, card and dice games, and slot machines) that form the economic basis of the American city of Las Vegas. In America, horse racing and casino gambling are the two most popular pastimes for gamblers, while in Britain, horse racing, greyhound racing, and Association football are most popular. Football gambling takes place predominantly through pools, where the gambler tries to predict the score in a range of matches, the most popular aim being to predict eight draws from a choice of 11 games for a relatively small stake.
Gambling is legal only in certain locations. In America, it is legal only in some cities and states; Las Vegas and Reno were granted the first licences in 1931. In Britain, legislation in the early 1960s allowed the opening of bookmaker's shops where off-course bets could be legally laid. Before then, an illegal but thriving trade was lightly policed. All licensed gambling provides revenue for the city, state, or country, and there are firm rules and conditions to ensure fairness to individuals placing the bet. In addition, many places also run lotteries, where purchasing either a pre-set series of random numbers or choosing a set personally can bring the winner a considerable fortune, while providing funds for charitable works. Britain's National Lottery was established in 1994 (renamed Lotto, 2002).
In games of chance, the odds are set by statistical analysis. The chance of a coin falling either heads or tails is 50/50 or evens. With two dice, there are six chances of scoring seven (6/36 or 1/6). Therefore, on the law of averages, every sixth throw should add up to seven, meaning that the odds are 5/1 against throwing the combination. However, the law of averages is not immutable - which is why casinos are profitable concerns.
For gambling where chance and skill combine, such as betting on the winner of a horse race, the bookmaker will set odds based on the assessment of the ability of the animal and team to beat the other(s). All major bookmakers employ experts to set these odds, and also to alter the odds to prevent huge losses when the public start to make their wagers. Thus, for example, a horse may start at 10/1 (the bookmaker will pay 10 units for every unit bet) but, if sufficient money is placed on the horse before the race, the odds become 2/1 or even 1/3, allowing the bookmaker to pay only one unit for every three placed. People making such wagers still receive their original stake back, but they have to decide whether to risk losing a large amount for such a small potential return. Large bookmakers will accept bets on almost any event or actuality. For example, Britain's most prestigious literary prize, the Booker Prize, attracts healthy gambling interest; and it is possible to bet that aliens will land or that your baby son will play for the England football team.
A new and increasingly popular form of betting in Britain, with its roots in the London Stock Exchange, is called spread betting, where the person laying the bet buys a range of options (for example, that England's rugby team will score a total of points between 3040). The more risky the spread, the higher the rewards, while in addition the person making the bet can close it at any time (even if the figures and predictions of the spread move from their opening quoted position) and buy and sell accordingly.
There is no verifiable history of gambling. Archaeologists have discovered marked pieces of bone in some of the world's most ancient sites which resemble modern dice, and it may be presumed that, once language became sophisticated enough, wagers were struck on the outcome of physical feats, hunting expeditions, and even warfare. Almost all of the great civilizations offer concrete examples of gambling. The Roman and Greek civilizations provide evidence of complicated games boards, with the winner receiving an agreed financial reward. Records exist of betting on the outcome of competitions at the amphitheatres scattered throughout the Roman Empire and at the ancient Greek Olympics. Evidence of gambling also stems from our knowledge that certain religions (eg Islam) have proscribed it.
Legal aspects
Because many religious authorities generally disapprove of gambling to some extent, and because gambling can have adverse social consequences, most legal jurisdictions limit gambling to some extent.
Because contracts of insurance have many features in common with wagers, legislation generally makes a distinction, typically defining any agreement in which either one of the parties has an interest in the outcome bet upon, beyond the specific financial terms, as a contract of insurance. Conversely, the close involvement of governments (through regulation and gambling taxation) has led to a close connection between many governments and gambling organisations, where legal gambling provides much government revenue, such as in Monaco or Macau.
Actions typically not regarded as gambling
Emotional or physical risk-taking where what is being risked is not money or material goods (e.g., skydiving, running for office, asking someone for a date, etc.) Buying insurance, as the primary intent of the purchase is to protect against loss, rather than to collect All forms of 'investment' (stock market, real estate) with positive expected returns, economic utility, and some underlying value independent of the risk being undertaken Starting a new business, as time and effort are also being wagered and the outcome is not determined in a short period of time Situations where the possibility of winning additional money or material goods is a secondary or incidental reason for the wager/purchase (e.g., buying a raffle ticket to support a worthy cause) Prediction markets or knowledge exchanges where the outcome is to encourage the development of market-based mechanisms for resolving questions of science, technology, management, strategy, planning, policy,etc.Gambling variables
There are three variables common to all forms of gambling:
How much is being wagered, the initial stake (in money or material goods).Psychological aspects
Though many participate in gambling as a form of recreation or even as a means to gain an income, gambling, like any behavior which involves variation in brain chemistry, can become a psychologically addictive and harmful behavior in some people. Because of the negative connotations of the word "gambling", casinos and race tracks often use the euphemism "gaming" to describe the recreational gambling activities they offer.
The Russian writer Dostoevsky portrays in his novella The Gambler the psychological implications of gambling and how gambling can affect gamblers. Dostoevsky shows the effect of betting money for the chance of gaining more in 19th-century Europe.
See Problem gamblingTypes of gambling
Casino games
"Beatable" casino games
With proper strategy, a smart player can create a positive mathematical expectation.
Poker (Also recognized as a game of skill) Blackjack -- with card counting unless a continuous shuffler is used Video poker -- with proper pay table and/or progressive jackpot Pai Gow Poker and Tiles -- player-dealt Sports betting Horse racing (parimutuel) Slot machines -- only slots where progressive jackpots or bonuses reach a certain break-even point"Unbeatable" casino games
These have a negative expectation, players as a group will lose in the long run.
Baccarat Craps (though some believe the use of dice control can beat the game) Roulette (unless physical prediction is used) Keno Casino war Faro (All but extinct) Pachinko Sic Bo Fan-Tan Let It Ride 3-card Poker 4-card poker Red Dog Pyramid Poker Caribbean Stud Poker Spanish 21 -- without counting Texas Hold'em Bonus PokerNon-casino gambling games
Some of these are played recreationally without stakes
Bingo (US|UK) Lottery Mahjong Dead pool Dice-based Backgammon Liar's dice Ship,Captain,Crew Passe-dix Hazard Threes Pig Mexico Card games Liar's poker Bridge Basset Lansquenet Piquet Put Coin-tossing Head and Tail Two-up (Australian casinos offer versions of two-up) Confidence tricks Three-card Monte Shell game Carnival Games The Razzle Hanky Pank Penny Falls Six-Cat The Swinger The Push-up Bottle The Nail Joint Con Games (in bars) Put and Take The Smack The Drunken MittFixed-odds gambling
Fixed-odds gambling and Parimutuel betting frequently occur at or on the following kinds of events:
Horse racing (see below) Greyhound racing Jai alai Football matches (particularly on Association and American football) Golf Tennis Cricket Baseball Basketball Ice hockey Rugby (League and Union) Snooker Motor sports Boxing Darts Cross-country skiing BiathlonIn addition many bookmakers offer fixed odds on a number of non-sports related outcomes, for example the direction and extent of movement of various financial indices, whether snow will fall on Christmas Day in a given area, the winner of television competitions such as Big Brother, election results , and so forth.
Gambling on horse races
One of the most widespread forms of gambling involves betting on horse races, most commonly on races between thoroughbreds or between standardbreds. or bookmakers may take bets personally. Parimutuel wagers pay off at prices determined by support in the wagering pools, while bookmakers pay off either at the odds offered at the time of accepting the bet;
In Canada and the United States, the most common types of bet on horse races include:
win – to succeed the bettor must pick the horse which wins the race. exacta, perfecta, or exactor –the bettor must pick the two horses which finish first and second and specify which will finish first quinella or quiniela – the bettor must pick the two horses which finish first and second, but need not specify which will finish first. box – a box can be placed around exotic betting types such as exacta, trifecta or superfecta bets. This places a bet for all combinations of the numbers in the box. A trifecta box with 3 numbers has 6 possible combinations and costs 6 times the betting base amount. A trifecta box with 6 numbers has 120 possible combinations and costs 120 times the betting base amount. Bettors usually make multiple wagers on exotic bets. A box consists of a multiple wager in which punters bet all possible combinations of a group of horses in the same race. A key involves making a multiple wager with a single horse in one race bet in one position with all possible combinations of other selected horses in a single race. A wheel consists of betting all horses in one race of a bet involving two or more races. For example a 1-all daily double wheel bets the 1-horse in the first race with every horse in the second.People making straight bets commonly employ the strategy of an 'each way' bet. Here the bettor picks a horse and bets it will win, and makes an additional bet that it will show, so that theoretically if the horse runs third it will at least pay back the two bets. The Canadian and American equivalent is the bet across (short for across the board): the bettor bets equal sums on the horse to win, place, and show. This bet also includes subsidiary wagers on smaller combinations of the chosen horses;
A parlay or accumulator consists of a series of bets in which bettors stake the winnings from one race on the next in order until either the bettor loses or the series completes successfully.
(Similarly, greyhound racing offers a popular betting alternative to horse racing in many countries.)
Sports betting
See also main sports betting article
Betting on team sports has become an important service industry in many countries. At sports betting, players may beat the bank.
Most jurisdictions in Canada and the United States regard sports betting as illegal (Nevada offers full sports betting and the Canadian provinces offer Sport Select - government-run sports parlay betting). However, millions engage in sports betting despite its illegality.
In Canada and the United States the most popular sports bets include:
against the spread - the bettor wagers either that the favoured team will win by a specified number of points or that it will not. Giving the points involves betting the favourite, and taking the points means betting the underdog. against odds - the most popular types of bets against odds comprise simple bets that a team will win and over-under (bets on the total points, runs, or goals scored by both teams). In making an over-under bet, the bettor wagers that the total will exceed or fall short of a total specified by the bookmaker. against a combination of odds and spreadIn sports betting, a parlay involves a bet that two or more teams will win. In the United States gamblers have made the parlay card one of the most common forms of sports betting: here bettors wager on the outcomes of two or more games. A teaser is one type of parlay where the bettor can alter the point spreads on the two games in the bet.
Events like the Super Bowl, and the Kentucky Derby are famous for bringing in sports betting.
Other types of betting
One can also bet with another person that a statement is true or false, or that a specified event will happen (a "back bet") or will not happen (a "lay bet") within a specified time. Not only do the parties hope to gain from the bet, they place the bet also to demonstrate their certainty about the issue. Sometimes the amount bet remains nominal, demonstrating the outcome as one of principle rather than of financial importance.
Betting Exchanges allow consumers to both back and lay at odds of their choice. Similar in someways to a stock exchange, a better may want to back a horse (hoping it to win) or lay a horse (hoping it to lose, effectively acting as bookmaker)
Arbitrage betting
Arbitrage betting, is a theoretically risk-free betting system in which every outcome of an event is bet upon so that a known profit will be made by the bettor upon completion of the event, regardless of the outcome. Arbitrage Betting, as the name implies, is a combination of the ancient art of arbitrage trading and gambling which has been made possible by the recent explosion in online bookmakers. This method suits conservative punters well, although if the profitability of one's bets varies independently of the odds the bettor simply reduces his or her cash flow. Due-column betting – A variation on fixed profits betting in which the bettor sets a target profit and then calculates a bet size that will make this profit, adding any losses to the target. If the bet loses, the target becomes $150. If the next bet is also at odds of 2 to 1, the wager therefore becomes $75. Kelly – the optimium level to bet to maximise your future median bank level; the punter needs to estimate fair odds (in decimal odds) and then calculate the stake using: A = W - (1 - W )/(D - 1) Where: A = Percentage of the total bank to bet W = Percentage probability of winning (fair odds) D = Decimal odds (actual odds available) Martingale – A system based on staking enough each time to recover losses from previous bet(s) until one wins. The Martingale guarantees failure in the long run - it would only work if the bettor has an unlimited bankroll, the bookmaker has no limit on the size of bets and neither party ever dies.
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