What is gambling / betting?
Gamble or gambling:
- to play a game for money or property
- to bet on an uncertain outcome, as of a contest.
- Taking a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.
- To engage in reckless or hazardous behavior
Bet or betting:
- the money risked on a gamble
- the act of gambling
- stake on an outcome of an issue
- a person, thing, or action likely to bring about a desired result
- Pre-occupied with the pursuit of pleasure and especially games of chance.
Types of gambling or betting:
While almost any game or situation can be gambled upon, there are general gambling or betting games/races.
- Casino games: Casino's offer many kinds of games. Some are played on a table and others on machines. The term "table game" is used to differentiate games such as blackjack, craps and roulette that are played on a table and operated by one or more live dealers, as opposed to games played on a mechanical device like a video slot machine where everything happens automatically. betting sites in india are also very popular and offer the same games but obviously all automated.
- Fixed-odds betting: Fixed-odds betting and Pari-mutuel betting (seen bellow) frequently occur at many types of sporting events, and in addition many bookmakers offer fixed odds on a number of non-sports related outcomes. This can include anything from who will win the next political election to who will win a televised competition like Survivor.
- Pari-mutuel betting: One of the most widespread forms of gambling involves betting on horse or greyhound racing. Wagering may take place through pari-mutuel pools, or bookmakers. Pari-mutuel wagers pay off at prices determined by support in the wagering pools, while bookmakers pay off either at the odds offered at the time of accepting the bet; or the norm offered by track bookmakers at the start of the race.
- Sport Betting: Aside from simple wagers such as betting a friend that one's favorite team will win its division or will win a specific game or race, sports betting are commonly performed through a bookmaker or through various online Internet outlets. Betting on sport and the outcome of a game or race is very common all over the world. From football matches to Formula 1 races, millions of fans take part in this form of betting.
- Arbitrage betting: Arbitrage betting is in theory a risk-free betting system in which every outcome of an event is bet upon so that a profit will be made by the bettor regardless of the outcome. By placing one bet per each outcome with different betting companies, the bettor can make a profit. As long as different Bookmakers are used for arbitrage betting the Bookmakers do not have a problem with this.
- Other types of betting include betting that a statement is true or false, or that a specified event will happen ("back bet") or will not happen ("lay bet") within a specified time. For example, a certain team will score a goal in the first half of the game or a certain team will NOT score a goal in the first half of the game.
- Betting Exchanges: Betting exchanges allow bettors to both back and lay at odds of their choice. A bettor may want to back a team or lay a team. For example, if someone thinks Team A will win a competition, he may wish to back that selection. A bookmaker offering the punter that bet would be laying that selection. The two parties will agree the backer's stake and the odds. If the team loses, the layer/bookmaker keeps the backer's stake. If the team wins, the layer will pay the backer the winnings based on the odds agreed. As every bet transacted requires a backer and a layer, and the betting exchange is not a party to the bets transacted on it, any betting exchange requires both backers and layers. This difference is debatable however as a layer is simply backing that an event will not happen, which in turn means he is betting that the opposite will happen. For example laying that a specific team WILL NOT win, you are basically betting that the other team WILL win.
