There’s nothing quite like sour grapes for birthing a myth. And probably no other industry susceptible to myths than the sports betting industry. Since it’s impossible to win each and ever single bet ever wagered, bettors often become bitter and disillusioned when things don’t end up going their way – resulting in all sorts of malicious myths making it onto the online domain.
These are just some of the most common sports betting myths debunked.
It’s Me Against The Bookie
As in the bookie being the enemy out to hustle the bettor in every possible way. This could not be further from the truth.
The reality is that even though bookies are in the game to make a living and do profitable business, they’re not the enemy – not by a long shot. Bookies merely act as middlemen trying to get equal value out of both sides of a game or event.
Bookies Benefit From Inside Info
Since any inside information constitutes a serious overstepping of the boundaries of sports integrity, bookies have no desire whatsoever to get involved with dubious goings-on. Bookies get their information from a combination of intelligent computer analysis, tech specialists themselves passionate sports bettors, and information provided by news sources and the media, they’re at the same mercy as any sports bettor hoping to show a profit.
Bookies only ever beat those bettors who “know” less than what they do – as in a knowledge of the actual facts around a specific race or game or event. If a bettor continues to lose, this is way more likely due to a lack of discipline than to purposefully misleading behavior on a bookmaker’s part.
It’s A Losing Game
Perhaps the most common of all sports betting myths is the notion that “nobody wins”.
Since sports betting is an absolute skill, and moreover, a skill many people make a superbly successful career out of, nothing could be further from the truth than to claim that sports betting is an activity from which nobody ever emerges a long-term winner.
Bookies Tamper With Final Lines
Yet another popular misconception often propagated by the ill-disciplined and the downright lazy, is that the bookies always get the final line exactly right.
The reality is that bookies only set the opening line to an event or game. From that point on out, it is the general public that controls the shift of the range, and by how much. The moving line is no more than the result of bets being taken in varying amounts on both teams. And unless there’s been some major and unexpected shift in an event’s trajectory due to injuries or volatile weather conditions, its always possible to follow the line of action from the bottom up when analysing the final line post-game.
To claim that all bookies are cheaters or that nobody ever walks away a winner only spoils the fun for everyone involved.