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1. Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome.
2. Online & Vegas sports betting odds & lines, betting news & picks for 2021. Covers the most trusted source of sports betting information since 1995.
3. Gambling in the Bible It all depends upon your perspective and interpretation. The Bible doesn't directly address gambling and such silence provides the fertile ground for discussion.

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Gambling, the betting or staking of something of value, with consciousness of risk and hope of gain, on the outcome of a game, a contest, or an uncertain event whose result may be determined by chance or accident or have an unexpected result by reason of the bettor’s miscalculation.

The outcomes of gambling games may be determined by chance alone, as in the purely random activity of a tossed pair of dice or of the ball on a roulette wheel, or by physical skill, training, or prowess in athletic contests, or by a combination of strategy and chance. The rules by which gambling games are played sometimes serve to confuse the relationship between the components of the game, which depend on skill and chance, so that some players may be able to manipulate the game to serve their own interests. Thus, knowledge of the game is useful for playing poker or betting on horse racing but is of very little use for purchasing lottery tickets or playing slot machines.

A gambler may participate in the game itself while betting on its outcome (card games, craps), or he may be prevented from any active participation in an event in which he has a stake (professional athletics, lotteries). Some games are dull or nearly meaningless without the accompanying betting activity and are rarely played unless wagering occurs (coin tossing, poker, dice games, lotteries). In other games betting is not intrinsically part of the game, and the association is merely conventional and not necessary to the performance of the game itself (horse racing, football pools). Commercial establishments such as casinos and racetracks may organize gambling when a portion of the money wagered by patrons can be easily acquired by participation as a favoured party in the game, by rental of space, or by withdrawing a portion of the betting pool. Some activities of very large scale (horse racing, lotteries) usually require commercial and professional organizations to present and maintain them efficiently.

Prevalence of principal forms

A rough estimate of the amount of money legally wagered annually in the world is about $10 trillion (illegal gambling may exceed even this figure). In terms of total turnover, lotteries are the leading form of gambling worldwide. State-licensed or state-operated lotteries expanded rapidly in Europe and the United States during the late 20th century and are widely distributed throughout most of the world. Organized football (soccer) pools can be found in nearly all European countries, several South American countries, Australia, and a few African and Asian countries. Most of these countries also offer either state-organized or state-licensed wagering on other sporting events.

Betting on horse racing is a leading form of gambling in English-speaking countries and in France. It also exists in many other countries. Wherever horse racing is popular, it has usually become a major business, with its own newspapers and other periodicals, extensive statistical services, self-styled experts who sell advice on how to bet, and sophisticated communication networks that furnish information to betting centres, bookmakers and their employees, and workers involved with the care and breeding of horses. The same is true, to a smaller extent, of dog racing. The emergence of satellite broadcasting technology has led to the creation of so-called off-track betting facilities, in which bettors watch live telecasts at locations away from the racetrack.

Bible Verses About Betting

Casinos or gambling houses have existed at least since the 17th century. In the 20th century they became commonplace and assumed almost a uniform character throughout the world. In Europe and South America they are permitted at many or most holiday resorts but not always in cities. In the United States casinos were for many years legal only in Nevada and New Jersey and, by special license, in Puerto Rico, but most other states now allow casino gambling, and betting facilities operate clandestinely throughout the country, often through corruption of political authorities. Roulette is one of the principal gambling games in casinos throughout France and Monaco and is popular throughout the world. Craps is the principal dice game at most American casinos. Slot and video poker machines are a mainstay of casinos in the United States and Europe and also are found in thousands of private clubs, restaurants, and other establishments; they are also common in Australia. Among the card games played at casinos, baccarat, in its popular form chemin de fer, has remained a principal gambling game in Great Britain and in the continental casinos most often patronized by the English at Deauville, Biarritz, and the Riviera resorts. Faro, at one time the principal gambling game in the United States, has become obsolete. Blackjack is the principal card game in American casinos. The French card game trente et quarante (or rouge et noir) is played at Monte-Carlo and a few other continental casinos. Many other games may also be found in some casinos—for example, sic bo, fan-tan, and pai-gow poker in Asia and local games such as boule, banca francesa, and kalooki in Europe.

At the start of the 21st century, poker exploded in popularity, principally through the high visibility of poker tournaments broadcast on television and the proliferation of Internet playing venues. Another growing form of Internet gambling is the so-called betting exchanges—Internet Web sites on which players make wagers with one another, with the Web site taking a small cut of each wager in exchange for organizing and handling the transaction.

In a wide sense of the word, stock markets may also be considered a form of gambling, albeit one in which skill and knowledge on the part of the bettors play a considerable part. This also goes for insurance; paying the premium on one’s life insurance is, in effect, a bet that one will die within a specified time. If one wins (dies), the win is paid out to one’s relatives, and if one loses (survives the specified time), the wager (premium) is kept by the insurance company, which acts as a bookmaker and sets the odds (payout ratios) according to actuarial data. These two forms of gambling are considered beneficial to society, the former acquiring venture capital and the latter spreading statistical risks.

Since Pinnacle launched Betting Resources, it has published in excess of 1,800 betting related articles. Looking at the most popular articles from that expansive archive provides an insight into what interests bettors the most, but also the way they learn and perhaps what they find more difficult to understand.

Information is power

Using information, data and expert insight to inform your betting has been the mission of Betting Resources since it launched. A smart bettor is always looking to learn and improve when it comes to finding value and making a profit in both the short and long term. These articles will help you do just that!

While some of these articles may be sport specific, they are still relevant to all bettors as many of the principles covered within them can be applied to many other sports – as evidenced in our tenth most popular article.

Starting our list off, we have How to beat the bookies in the Over/Under market. Our excellent step-by-step guide outlines how to calculate probabilities for the expected number of goals in a soccer match and convert them into odds, enabling you to find value.

About Betting World

It’s clear that soccer is a popular sport for betting and given that the Over/Under market is one of the most popular options for bettors, it’s not a surprise to see a guide on this specific market featuring in the top ten of our most popular articles.

Up next in ninth is Basketball betting: Bet types explained. We have similar articles across all sports, but the popularity of the NBA has helped contribute to the interest in this piece. This article helps bettors understand all the basic facets to betting on basketball and is a great foothold for beginners.

Systems and methodologies

At the number eight position is an article focused on an element of staking that is sure to be a valuable asset – Kelly Criterion. An expertly crafted article by Dominic Cortis, How to use Kelly Criterion for betting educates bettors on everything you need to know about using Kelly. Learning to apply and use this formula in your betting could be an invaluable weapon moving forward, hence why it is such a popular article.

About Betting In Ethiopia

Coming in at seven is Joseph Buchdahl’s excellent article Correct score betting: What you need to know. Vital reading for soccer bettors looking for a more advanced betting strategy then the simplistic 1X2 market, Joseph’s article outlines how to model score predictions, while also showing how the favourite-longshot bias plays a part when betting on these markets.

Narrowly missing out on the top five, our sixth most popular article is your guide to an alternative betting market in soccer – Corners betting in soccer: Value in a lesser-known market. Corners betting in soccer has become increasingly popular in recent years.

In addition to offering bettors a chance to take advantage of a bookmaker’s lack of knowledge or attention to minor details, the fluctuation of odds in live corners betting is another reason sharp bettors will choose this specific market.

Kicking off the top five most popular articles is How to calculate expected value. Expected value (EV) is the most fundamental concept within betting, but isn’t a term that is commonly used or understood among recreational bettors.

As bettors start to dig a little below the surface, especially in forums, blogs and social media, the term EV will almost certainly crop up and our article helps bettors become aware of what it is, how to calculate it and understand why it is so fundamentally important to betting.

At number four is an article on the Poisson distribution and how it applies to soccer betting titled Poisson Distribution: Predict the score in soccer betting. This is so popular because it walks the reader through the process of calculating the percentage chance of certain match outcomes from past performance data using defence and attack strength values, before using the Poisson formula to easily turn these into probabilities or odds of a distribution of different score lines.

While this specific article was published a few years ago, recent iterations have also proved popular with Betting Resources readers. Benjamin Cronin’s How to price a soccer match and Live soccer betting strategy: How to price a match in-play build upon the basics from his original Poisson article to help readers calculate their own odds for a soccer match and compare them against those of the bookmaker.

Don’t overlook the basics

Taking the bronze medal is one of the most enduring articles on Betting Resources - Staking: One method to improve your betting. Drawing on data from Alex Bellos’ excellent Adventures in Numberland and using a 500-bet simulation and $1,000 bankroll, the article provides a simple way for bettors to learn the pitfalls of five prominent staking methods.

A worthy runner-up, our second most popular article is What is handicap soccer betting. Handicap betting can be both simplistic and complex in nature and this article outlines the different types of Handicap betting available at Pinnacle and how you can use it to find value on soccer markets.

Furthermore, if you apply the same basic principles from the article about Handicap betting, you can apply them to other sports where this market features prominently. Pinnacle has even summarised the article in video format, explaining both traditional Handicap betting and Asian Handicap betting in easy to digest videos.

All of the articles above are worth your attention, but the one that has been the most popular on Betting Resources is yet another alternative soccer betting strategy, as soccer expert Mark Taylor shows us How to predict draws in soccer. Drawing on the Poisson Distribution methodology with Taylor’s own adjustments, this article outlines everything you need to know about how to inform your draw predictions.

Here is the top 10 in full:

• 10. How to beat the bookies in the Over/Under market
• 9. Basketball betting: Bet types explained
• 8. How to use Kelly Criterion for betting
• 7. Correct score betting: What you need to know
• 6. Corners betting in soccer: Value in a lesser-known market
• 5. How to calculate expected value
• 4. Poisson Distribution: Predict the score in soccer betting
• 3. Staking: One method to improve your betting
• 2. What is handicap soccer betting
• 1. How to predict draws in soccer