The stock market can be a challenging course for beginners. The complexities of investing in shares can feel overwhelming, and just when you think you’re starting to get the hang of things, you lose all your money in a stock market crash! Thanks to the wonders of compound interest, you can actually make money off the crash (though it may not be much), but avoiding crashes altogether is still a tall order.
For regular, everyday investors, getting involved in the stock market is a great way to make money, but for high-frequency traders (or day traders as they’re sometimes called), the rewards can be extraordinary. The huge swings in price mean that small investment can make big money, and the bigger the investment, the bigger the potential for profit.
If you’re looking to get into sports betting, it’s a great place to start as there is a lot of similarity between betting on sports and investing in shares; the two are actually quite similar. While you might not have $100,000 to invest in a share in a private company, you can usually put down a few hundred dollars (or more) on a favourite sports team – and the returns can be fantastic!
We will now run through a quick guide to explaining the key differences between betting on sports and investing in shares, and some of the specific terminology that applies to each.
The Basics Of Baseball Betting
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the United States, and the world’s fifth-largest sport. The US sportsbook, Westgate, reports that around 20.7 million Canadians are participating in some sort of hockey activity each year, making the sport the number three most played in the country. And then there’s American football, which is still played today, although it didn’t become a widely accepted sport in Canada until the 1980s.
As in many other sports, the bulk of the betting action occurs in the United States. According to OddsShark, 82% of the betting action is currently placed in Nevada’s sportsbooks, with 18% in New Jersey. The United States is also home to dozens of famous golf courses, such as Pebble Beach and the Country Club of California, which attract top-notch golfers from around the world. And then there’s the Grand Canyon, the most photographed wilderness in the world. Not many places are as majestic as this huge piece of land in the middle of America!
Despite all these attractions, getting involved in baseball betting is not easy – especially for beginners. Like with many other sports, the legalities surrounding the game vary by state, and some fans don’t seem to want anyone tinkering with their beloved sport. Plus, you need to choose your favourite team; it’s not all sunshine and rainbows as every team has its good and bad moments.
Key Differences Between Betting On Sports And Investing In Shares
One of the primary differences between betting on sports and investing in shares is the time frame. While you could technically bet on a baseball game today, the odds would not be very favourable – the teams would most likely be resting after a hard day of work, and the fans would most likely be there to relax and have a beer. After all, it is the middle of the week, and sportsbooks are mostly populated by adults who are looking to unwind and have a good time.
On the other hand, you could invest in a share of a company which provides daily services for organizations such as Facebook and Google – these shares would be most suited for experienced investors who want to make a short-term gain. The time frame for these shares is often just a few days, and the prices can swing wildly due to short-term news or economic events – for example, if there are some financial reports coming out that are bad, investors could rush to sell off their shares, causing prices to slump.
The second major difference between betting on sports and investing in shares is the method of payment. If you’re betting on a sporting event, your typical method of payment is going to be cash – though many casinos in the United States allow you to use a credit card to place a wager, the point of doing this is to extract as much value out of the betting experience as possible, rather than having a merchant process a credit card transaction. That being said, most casinos have banned people from using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, due to the volatility and/or uncertainty surrounding these currencies – though the odd crypto-friendly casino still exists.
With shares, the method of payment is either cash or some sort of check; there’s no merchant fee for using a credit card, and you don’t need to worry about the volatility of crypto currencies, as stable, traditional investments are generally favoured over more innovative and volatile ones.
Terminology For Betting On Baseball
The following terms are widely used when betting on baseball:
- Underdog: The team you think will lose and want to bet on to win
- Longball: A home run – sometimes called a long bomb or a ball to the center field fence
- Pick ’em: A coin toss that will settle on whether you think the home team or visiting team will win
- Field Player: A position player, who spends most of his time on the field but can also spend time at the plate, trying to score runs
- Hit Player: The player who is batting and due to score the most runs in that at-bat
- Money Line: A wager placed on the game’s outcome, with the home team listed as the “money” team and the visiting team the “choice” team – this line would be open if the game is being played at a reputable and honest sportsbook
- Quarter Price: A wager placed on a quarter of the game, with each quarter representing a ball. In the case of a six-team basketball game, you would have six quarters priced at $1, with a $5 max bet per quarter. This is generally the minimum wager for most sportsbooks, though bigger bets are sometimes available for select games or for particular events, such as the Super Bowl or the World Series.
- Half Price: A quarter with the same terms as the above, but with half the max bet amount – typically $2 per quarter on a six-team basketball game, with a $10 max bet
- Decimal Line: A kind of half-price wager where you’re betting on the score of the game instead of the outcome – in the case of a six-team basketball game, this would be five points to nil, with two halves worth of points representing a $1 unit bet
- Reduced Price: A kind of half-price wager where you’re betting on the score of the game instead of the outcome – in the case of a six-team basketball game, this would be five points to three or more, with two halves worth of points representing a $1 unit bet
- Maximum Bet: The highest quantity of money that a gambler is willing to wager on a single bet – generally the maximum bet listed on a sportsbook is the dollar amount. For example, if the maximum bet is $5, you can bet up to $5 on each of the six quarters in a six-team basketball game. The betting max is occasionally listed as a percentage of the money line, which would make it $5 on a $100 money line – the maximum bet would then be 5% of your total stake.
- Stakes: The percentage of the money line stake that the casino will pay out on a winning bet – generally speaking, the odds will be 2-to-1 or 3-to-1 for most teams, with the home team being favoured, so your initial bet would need to be twice or three times the amount of the maximum bet for you to break even, assuming you are betting the maximum amount on each of the six quarters in a six-team basketball game.
If you’re new to baseball betting, it might be a good idea to read one of the many books that are available on the subject – this way, you’ll know what terms mean, and you won’t be confused by the sometimes overwhelming number of betting options which can appear when you’re placing an order at a casino sportsbook.