Betting Sports and Casino

The term betting has had many different meanings depending on the cultural and historical context in which it is used. Currently, in Western societies, it has an economic definition, referring to "wagering money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods". Typically the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period of time.

The term bettingin this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law. The two words are not mutually exclusive; i.e.: a “gaming” company offers (legal) “betting” activities to the public.

Because many religious authorities generally disapprove of betting to some extent, and because betting can have adverse social consequences, most legal jurisdictions limit betting to some extent. Some Islamic nations prohibit betting; most other countries regulate it.

Many jurisdictions, local as well as national, either ban or heavily control (by licensing) betting. Such regulation generally leads to betting tourism and illegal betting. The involvement of governments, through regulation and taxation, has led to a close connection between many governments and gaming organizations, where legal betting provides significant government revenue, such as in Monaco or Macau.

Under US federal law, betting is legal in the United States, and states are free to regulate or prohibit the practice. Betting has been legal in Nevada since 1931, forming the backbone of the state's economy, and the city of Las Vegas is perhaps the best known betting destination in the world. In 1976, betting was legalized in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and in 1990, it was legalized in Tunica, Mississippi; both of those cities have developed extensive casino and resort areas since then. Since a favorable US Supreme Court decision in 1987, many Native American tribes have built their own casinos on tribal lands as a way to provide revenue for the tribe. Because the tribes are considered sovereign nations, they are often exempt from state laws banning betting, and are instead regulated under federal law.

Because contracts of insurance have many features in common with wagers, insurance contracts are often distinguished under law as agreements in which either party has an interest in the "bet-upon" outcome beyond the specific financial terms. E.g.: a “bet” with an insurer on whether one's house will burn down is not betting, but rather insurance — as the homeowner has an obvious interest in the continued existence of his/her home independent of the purely financial aspects of the "bet" (i.e., the insurance policy).

There is generally legislation requiring that the odds in gaming devices are statistically random, to prevent manufacturers from making some high-payoff results impossible. Since these high-payoffs have very low probability, a house bias can quite easily be missed unless checking the odds carefully.

Casino games: While almost any game can be played for money, and any game typically played for money can also be played just for fun, some games are generally offered in a casino setting.

Non-casino betting games: Betting games that take place outside of casinos include Bingo, dead pool, lotteries, pull-tab games and scratchcards, and Mahjong.

Fixed-odds betting: Fixed-odds betting and Parimutuel betting frequently occur at many types of sporting events. In addition many bookmakers offer fixed odds on a number of non-sports related outcomes, for example the direction and extent of movement of various financial indices, the winner of television competitions such as Big Brother, election results, Interactive prediction markets also offer trading on these outcomes, with "shares" of results trading on an open market.

Parimutuel betting: One of the most widespread forms of betting involves betting on horse or greyhound racing. Wagering may take place through parimutuel pools; or bookmakers may take bets personally. Parimutuel 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 at the median odds offered by track bookmakers at the time the race started.

Sports betting: Betting on team sports has become an important service industry in many countries. For example, millions of Britons play the football pools every week.

Arbitrage betting: Arbitrage betting is a theoretically risk-free betting system in which every outcome of an event is bet upon so that a known profit will be made by the bettor upon completion of the event, regardless of the outcome. Arbitrage betting is a combination of the ancient art of arbitrage trading and betting, which has been made possible the large numbers of bookmakers in the marketplace, creating occasional opportunities for arbitrage.

Other types of betting: One can also bet with another person that a statement is true or false, or that a specified event will happen (a "back bet") or will not happen (a "lay bet") within a specified time. This occurs in particular when two people have opposing but strongly-held views on truth or events. Not only do the parties hope to gain from the bet, they place the bet also to demonstrate their certainty about the issue. Some means of determining the issue at stake must exist. Sometimes the amount bet remains nominal, demonstrating the outcome as one of principle rather than of financial importance.

Betting exchanges: allow consumers to both back and lay at odds of their choice. Similar in some ways to a stock exchange, a better may want to back a horse (hoping it to win) or lay a horse (hoping it to lose, effectively acting as bookmaker).