Risk and Reward in Sports Betting: How They Are Connected

As they relate to gambling, risk and reward are two closely connected concepts. In basic terms, risk refers to the probability of losing money. Meanwhile, reward refers to the potential payout. The greater the risk, the higher the potential reward. For example, if you place a bet on a long shot in a horse race, the chances of winning the wager are low. However, the payout will often be quite high if your horse wins. On the flip side, if you back a heavy favourite that wins, the potential reward will likely be quite small. It may even be less than the stake.

It’s important to understand that the risk-reward tradeoff is not always the same. If you visit Match Center to find the best bonus offer or check out the latest football odds, you will often see that those odds vary from bookmaker to bookmaker. This means the potential reward for placing a winning wager can vary despite staking the same amount of money.

Recognising Risk and Reward

Let’s say that you want to wager £100 on a 1X2 bet for Everton to beat Aston Villa. You check out one bookmaker and see that the odds for that wager are 7/5. This means you stand to profit £140 if the bet wins. Being a diligent line shopper, you look up the odds at a competing bookmaker to find they have the same bet priced at 6/4. This equates to a potential profit of £150. Even though the risk is exactly the same, the rewards are noticeably different. This has significant implications from a long-term perspective.

A lot of punters like to play accumulators. It’s a good way to turn a couple of low-risk, low-reward sports bets into a wager that offers a more meaningful payout. You could place two separate £100 single bets at 2/5 in hopes of earning a £40 profit on each one. In other words, you are risking a total of £200 to earn a maximum reward of £80. Alternatively, parlaying those two picks at 25/26 for £100 offers a potential profit of £96. This is why accumulators are so popular. However, you need to understand that parlaying the two selections increases the overall risk because you need both picks to win. Hence, the higher reward.

Risk and Reward: a Personal Choice

One of the great things about sports gambling is that you can customise the risk and reward to suit your style. Some people prefer high-risk bets because it usually means bigger and more meaningful payouts. Those bettors might go through agonisingly long losing skids in which they lose large chunks of money, but the occasional payout is well worth the wait. Others would rather place low-risk bets so that they can enjoy more wins even if those wins are relatively small.

A lot of gamblers like to mix it up. That is to say, they combine low-risk bets with a few high-risk wagers. This is similar to how many people build their investment portfolios. Some sports betting strategies incorporate this approach. For instance, a punter might wager £100 on one or more lower-risk propositions such as totals or spreads. These are the bread-and-butter bets. At the same time, they sprinkle in £10 on a long-shot accumulator. They may not hit their accumulators too often, but it sure has a positive impact when they do.

The point here is that the levels of risk and reward are entirely up to you. It really depends on your gambling style and how comfortable you are with the amount of risk you take for a given reward. No matter where you fall on this spectrum, you want to minimize the risk and maximize the reward. This doesn’t ensure profits, but it does guarantee that you’ll earn more when you do win.

Final Words

The relationship between risk and reward in gambling is a delicate balance that must be carefully considered by those who choose to participate. Whilst the possibility of a large payout may be alluring, it’s a lot more difficult to overcome the long odds. At the same time, short-odds bets are easier to win, but the payouts are less satisfying. Just remember that no matter what type of wager you make, the house always has the edge.