That might be true, but sports betting is pretty much for fun, the amounts involved are usually way smaller than when you're investing.
I don't agree with this at all. Sports Betting, just like investing, is all about the amount of research you put into making your picks. If you're just blindly picking teams, then sure, you're just trying to get lucky and your odds probably won't be much better than a 1 in 3 shot. But take Baseball for instance. In research for a match-up, I'll take a look at a pitchers success in his past 5 starts, if the lineup he's facing is heavy with lefties or righties (and bet accordingly if he has an advantage over one), what his offense is playing like behind him, who has ownage on the pitcher from the other squad, whether the pitcher can pitch on the road or not, etc. After you look through factors like that, you can make some pretty informed decisions about what a good pick would be.
Рrоblеm wіth іnvеstіng lоng оn stосk mаrkеt аlsо ехіsts bесаusе уоu'rе іnvеstіng іn stосks nоt thе whоlе mаrkеt. Ѕау уоu bоught а stосk аt $50 аnd оnе dау thе соmраnу mіssеs еаrnіngs аnd rеvеnuе wіth nеgаtіvе fоrесаst fоr mаnу уеаrs. Тhе stосk tаnks 50% tо $25 thеn уоu'vе іnstаntlу lоst hаlf оf уоur іnvеstmеnt аnd роssіblу mоrе duе tо bаdlу mаnаgеd соmраnу wіthоut сhаnсе tо rесоvеr thе lоst mоnеу аt аll. Yоu'rе оn thе mеrсу оf sоmе mаnаgеmеnt unknоwn tо уоu. Тhаt іs whу stосk mаrkеt іs dереndеnt оn оthеr реорlе аnd іnsіdеrs gаmіng аnd mаnірulаtіng thе dесіsіоns аnd оf thеіr stосk рrісеs whеrе аs sроrts bеttіng іs mоrе оf іndереndеnt аnd іnstаntlу сеrtаіn оf іts оutсоmе bесаusе nо mаttеr hоw muсh thе fаvоrіtе а tеаm оr а рlауеr іs, аnу gаmе іs stіll соnsіdеrеd аnуthіng роssіblе untіl іt's рlауеd аnd саrrіеd оut. Іt's а 50/50 сhаnсе соmраrеd tо іnvеst іn stосks іs unknоwn/unknоwn.
The only ways of guaranteeing money by sports betting is either through arbitrage. The only other way to make money long term is spotting value bets, which is a lot harder and takes almost as much effort as picking a good stock.
I diversify and really dig deep into doing due dilligence before putting much money in any company that I plan to hold for any length of time. It's VERY unusual to see a company fall 50% overnight on earnings. You sometimes see large drops in price on biotechs when they miss in clinical trials or don't get FDA approval - which is why I keep my investments relatively small in biotechs, and usually use puts for downside protection, and often use calls instead of actual long stock positions ahead of such events as FDA decisions or clinical trials. I generally use puts against more volatile long positions in other industries as well - many tech stocks, oil and gas drillers, etc. With sports betting, you can probably be right a fair amount of the time in a sport like pro football - at least often (certainly not always) right as to who wins or loses. It may be harder to beat a spread though. Nothing is anywhere near guaranteed or a sure thing in either activity. But my own personal method of investing (mostly in publicly traded companies) has made me tons of money over the last 20+ years without a huge amount of overall volatility. If you're going to sports bet, gamble, or trade, you'd really better know what you're doing. If you don't have the time or inclination to learn much about investing, you can invest passively by buying index funds or better managed mutual funds and likely do quite well over time. That's what my goal has long been - to hold on to my money and get rich over time. To be loaded at 40 (done), moreso at 50 (working on it), and even moreso at 60, 70, and 80, etc. It takes time, patience, and discipline.
I agree more on this. I think gambling shouldn't be considered money making because you eventually lose more in the long run. It can be a form of amusement and I consider it only as such.
While they have similarities to some extent, they are not the same at the core. If someone was looking for a thrill (not advisable if you want to be a good trader) then you can easily do that in the market. Try leveraging up long gamma in a weekly at the money option in a volatile underlying on expiration day with a substantial amount of contracts (also not advisable). You could be up 500% perhaps more, or blown to smithereens within seconds. If that's your thrill go for it. I think sports betters may have an innate ability to do well in markets if they throw out the gambler mentality though. in sports betting the spread is created by someone who builds the odds in their favor, thus the odds are always against the one who is placing the bet, much like a casino ensures the machines/games are programmed with odds that payout less than 50% of the time. The only game I play in casinos is cash poker tables as there are no house odds working against me. In the market there could be dividends. If the security goes against you there is a chance it will reverse again and go in your favor unlike a sunken bet which is all or nothing. in the market you have the ability to cut losses before 100% loss. You also have the ability to add an offsetting hedge to reduce risk exposure which cannot be done in gambling. Others have mentioned the general upward trend of markets. It's true, there is a 52% upside bias in the S&P based on how our society works (ongoing 401K contributions create a net buying effect). If you are long-bias which most money managers are then the odds are already in your favor. In trading if your risk tolerance is high, it's possible to create scenarios where there is a 90%+ probability of profit (ask me how). In gambling there would rarely if ever be that type of opportunity.
I certainly wouldn't group them as the same. You can clearly play them both from a speculative angle, taking a high risk, high reward stance. But investing over the longer term is nothing like sports betting. If you were to stick your money into Coca-Cola over a 5-year period (which, if you are properly using the term "investing", isn't unreasonable) you wouldn't be doing the same thing as sports betting over the same time period. If you were taking a stake in a horse, then that would be another matter, but I'm assuming your sports betting approach isn't that.
Personally as a way of making money I prefer the markets and forex trading. That's where the bulk of my money comes from. I do like to do a little sports trading from time to time but that's just mainly a hobby and the fact I quite like a lot of sports. If I don't make anything it's not the end of the world when it comes to that.
Someone I know recently lost a substantial amount of money on sports betting. Unlike stock trading where you may lose a little, he lost everything he'd bet. He had been lucky on so many occasions that he became reckless. Made a mistake that will take him a really long time to recover from. No one should try sports betting not even matched betting because the chances of losing money eventually, are quite high. It's not investing.
