When is it a good idea to make sports bets?

Sports betting, gambling and card games are subjects that often divide society into two camps of disagreement, and to be fair, both sides are largely right.

Pro-lifers point out that the thrill of the game helps to de-stress and spice up life, while opponents warn of the consequences that gambling can lead to – addictions, damaged careers and deteriorating relationships.

But is there a happy medium between the two? The experts confirm that there is, you just have to keep within your limits. Let’s look at the example of sports betting – when it’s a good idea, but when it can be an unhealthy craving.

Make sports bets when:

• you just want to have a good time with friends;
• You want to show that you’re a great strategist and that you know a sport well;
• you have enough spare money to spend on this kind of entertainment, and nothing will happen if you lose the money you bet;
• you work in a relatively creative job that demands a lot of brain power, so you want to give your brain a break after a hard week’s work and let the sport entertain you more than usual;
• you know when to stop – for example, if your loved ones invite you for a picnic and you don’t tell them you can’t come because you’re busy making sports bets;

Take a break or don’t participate in sports betting at all if:

• if you have borrowed money to bet on a sport, even once;
• if you simply don’t have any spare money to risk;
• you have broken a promise you made to yourself, for example, you said you would stop gambling, but you have actually kept on gambling;
• if you spend the night on an online betting portal and go to work in the morning unwashed and unslept in.
• if people close to you start to worry about your passion, it’s worth listening to them;
• when you realise that you are looking forward to a day of ‘meeting’ the betting portal more than you are looking forward to meeting, say, your children or your spouse.