Sports enthusiasts overestimate themselves: this is how you keep the risk of sports betting as small as possible

Foreign providers of sports betting have been blocked in Germany for four years. But because the block can be circumvented using a Virtual Private Network (VPN), about 30 percent of sports betting fans continue to play on foreign platforms. This is evident from the research of Sucht Schweiz and the GREA. The player is not punishable, says Manuel Richard (47), director of inter-cantonal gambling supervision. Still, he recommends only placing sports bets with Swiss providers – Sporttip from Swisslos or Jouez Sport from Loterie Romande. “They are obliged to take measures to protect the players,” he says. This includes the early detection of endangered players, game restrictions and cooperation with addiction departments. Richard: “Not only do these security concepts not apply to foreign platforms, there is also a risk that you will not be paid your winnings.”

With the two Swiss providers Sporttip from Swisslos and Jouez Sport from Loterie Romande you can set a betting limit so that you do not exceed a certain amount that you want to spend on sports betting per week or month. “It’s a good tool to have some control over your own gaming behavior,” says Richard.

Live betting, where you wager while a game is in progress, is attractive because the bets and odds constantly change as the game progresses. So you have the opportunity to place many new bets in a short time. This has a downside. “The combination of frequent money bets and immediate results increases the likelihood of addiction,” says Britta Thelitz, 31, head of prevention at the Center for Gambling Addiction in Zurich. Because the brain is constantly pouring out dopamine as you make new bets every second. The time pressure in live betting also reduces the ability to make rational decisions. “This can lead to impulsive behavior and potentially high losses,” says the expert.

Although the odds (amount of winnings if the prediction is correct multiplied by the stake) are higher than single bets, Thelitz does not recommend combination bets, where you bet on multiple events. “If you get a wrong tip, the whole bet is lost,” she says. The chance of winning is therefore negligibly small. Another danger is that near wins (e.g. 4 out of 5 correct guesses) suggest success, even though the bet was objectively lost. “The brain remembers it as a just-missed win, which encourages you to keep playing,” says the expert. This need is reinforced by a common statistical misconception that after many losses, profits must follow. But the probability remains the same after each result.

According to Thelitz, several studies show that, on average, sports enthusiasts do not have better earning opportunities than non-professionals. “Players who know a lot about sports tend to bet on the most likely event where the odds are low,” she says. As a result, they win more often, but less money in one go. Sports amateurs prefer to rely on unlikely results. This means they win less often, but win more money on a lucky hit. “Viewed over a longer period of time, the two strategies hardly differ,” says the expert.