Why People Love Betting on Sports They Barely Understand

One minute you're contemplating going to bed, and the next you're fully engrossed in a beach volleyball game, instinctively reaching for your sportsbook app, looking for an in-play market. No matter your sport of choice, if there's a game on somewhere, chances are someone will be betting on it. 

In a world where consistent betting profits demand sharp thinking and statistical analysis, Bodog looks into the perplexing trend of punters blindly betting on sports they've not seen before.

Sportsbooks Are Turning Everything into Actionable Content

You don't have to look far to find the root catalyst behind this phenomenon, as modern betting apps are just one click away on your phone. So, whether you catch a glimpse of an Ultimate Frisbee tournament or a game of Aussie rules football - no matter the time of day, there will always be something to bet on.

Add to the fact that beyond the game itself, sports betting platforms also have alluring in-play markets for you to dabble in – even if you've not quite worked out what's going on. The temptation often comes when punters believe they’ve spotted an edge based purely on the short snippet of action they've just seen.

Even if you're not streaming or watching sports on TV, a sportsbook’s push notifications are the only trigger you need to encourage a random betting spree. These promotional deployments are so effective that they can divert you away from scrolling through Facebook one minute, to placing a bet on a Brazilian second-division corner market in seconds.

The Illusion of Understanding in Sports Betting

Much of the issue stems from the risky betting psychology that leads bettors to assume a handful of informed insights is enough to compensate for a lack of expertise. All it takes these days is a sportscaster's comment, a quick snapshot of a divisional table, or a few minutes of watching a team dominate possession, and punters believe they've spotted a value bet the rest of the market hasn't seen.

Fuelling the uptick in betting on unfamiliar sports is a new breed of gambler who falls into the trap tied to the falsified illusion of control. In fact, research conducted by Killick & Griffiths into in-play betting concluded that many bettors believe they have an inherent skill in interpreting live information, even when outcomes still remain largely driven by chance.

All it might take is a simple signal, like when one team looks stronger than the other, or when the odds of outcomes begin drifting, and it gets mistaken for a knowledgeable insight. So much so that even when armed with just a basic understanding of the game's mechanics, an in-built self-confidence is often all it takes to make people bet on the sport.

Why Unfamiliar Sports Can Feel More Exciting

Strangely, another compelling factor behind the craze is that not knowing how a sport actually works adds to the excitement of betting. The theory is, if you don't understand the rules, every moment instinctively feels more unpredictable and therefore makes it more enticing.

It’s true that in-play betting naturally accelerates a participant's excitement levels, organically making watching sport more stimulating. Apply that same logic when watching a random darts match or game of badminton, and it goes some way to explaining this latest trend’s appeal.

Finally, wagering on unfamiliar sports also frees bettors up from the emotional baggage they may experience watching sports they know inside and out. After all, impartiality can minimize the boredom of always backing the same teams - not to mention the psychological trap of rivalry betting.

The Rise of the "Always-On" Bettor

Indeed, the shift away from passive sports wagering to an "always-on" bettor has been exacerbated by the fact that punters now have an unlimited number of sportsbooks and prediction market selections to choose from. Given that betting apps now stream live sports from every corner of the globe 24/7 straight to users’ phones, traditional downtime can now easily be filled by wagering on random sports.

Of course, we're not saying there isn't an upside to watching live sport on your phone; in fact, we think it's awesome. However, this unrelenting accessibility is the reason why bettors loosen their normal structured discipline, in favor of backing a specific greyhound at 1 am simply because it has a cool name.

Sports Betting in the Age of No Off Switch

Without a doubt, bettors over a certain age still shudder when recalling the primitive days of early online betting in comparison to the modern-day hyper-connected sportsbook offerings. After all, you now have free rein to bet on tons of sports you’ve never heard of, let alone know how they are played.

As a result, sports betting has effectively evolved into on-demand entertainment, available whenever and wherever you want. And while sportsbooks delight in the never-ending stream of wagering traffic, where once betting felt more deliberate and occasional, nowadays it’s a case of what sporting event can I bet on right now.