Gambling is among the oldest pastime in human civilization. Numerous examples of people playing games of chance during those times. The best-known one is Achilles and Ajax playing dice, depicted on a vase found in Greece. Three or four thousand years after, we can see that not much has changed. The only difference is that the practice has become more available. For a long time, it was reserved solely for people of upper social status.
Naturally, the introduction of the internet was a massive game changer. There are countless online casinos available. It is up to players to find the one that meets their needs and preferences. We can see that many counties have imposed new regulations to help regulate the local gambling industry. Of course, the online component has made things simpler and more complex. That is why new regulation was needed in so many places worldwide.
The number of players surpassed millions a couple of years ago. Becoming a professional is reserved solely for a small portion of those with the highest skills. If you are a beginner, you should consult an online betting guide. But did you know that some athletes gamble as well? Not just by playing traditional casino games but also by some modern ones. Today, we want to discuss this topic in greater detail.
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Athletes and Gambling
The topic of gambling and athletes is a controversial one. You surely know that it is against the law for athletes to place a wager to prevent any bad influences on the sport. You surely heard about many controversies regarding athletes who were banned for the sake of practicing this activity. The latest example is Ivan Toney from EPL’s team Brentford. He is banned from playing for his team for the next seven months.
Naturally, there are many more examples. Of course, there are numerous other examples. For instance, many know Tiger Woods and his gambling habit. It is the best-known story regarding this subject. Tiger Woods gambled away millions of US dollars in the last two decades. It is an activity that followed him during the peak of his career and later. He’s spoken about his habit openly in numerous interviews.
Interestingly, golf players are interested in this way to pass the time. Another well-known example is Phil Mickelson. He also spoke about his habits openly. But what is interesting is that these two didn’t conduct sports betting. What makes the case of Ivan Toney unique is that he bet on EPL games on numerous occasions. For that reason, he was handed the ban that will take a large portion of the next season.
College Athletes
The next thing we want to point out is gambling and college athletes. Even though this is not a topic you will find among other popular ones, it is quite widespread. Numerous examples of this happening in the last couple of years. Therefore, there was a question that became quite widespread. So, a new regulation was needed to prevent this from happening. Thankfully, it was imposed, and the penalties for these actions are quite severe.
But another problem has arisen from this point. Gambling among younger generations. College students are not old enough to participate in gambling. So, when they start gambling, this becomes a problem. There is a high probability that some will develop a habit. Not to mention all the regulations completely forbid this. At the same time, college sports became quite popular among sports bettors, a massive change. It wasn’t so widespread just a couple of years ago.
The Story of Jake Paul
One of the recent stories that attracted much interest is Jake Paul and his building a sports betting venture. For those who do not know the story, we are talking about a social media star who became a professional boxer. Of course, many were hesitant about his plan to go professional in this sport. The reason is that many social media stars tried their luck in professional sports and failed.
Nevertheless, the story of Jake Paul is completely different. He did not come from a sports background and succeeded in becoming a good professional boxer. He competes in many tournaments organized all over the world. His strivings to build a sports betting business made this remarkable story even more interesting. Our latest information is that he invested $50 million in the whole project.
Naturally, this raised numerous questions about the regularity of his further participation in tournaments. We will have to wait and see what will come from the project. Another thing we want to point out regarding this business. We are talking about micro-betting. From the market standpoint, this is a great moment for opening a business like this since the industry is about to grow big in the United States.
New Conditions
As you can see, every industry is changing today, mainly because of the internet. The digital component has created many conditions, so new regulation is needed. Nobody should be surprised why the same goes for the gambling industry. What does this have to do with the athletes and gambling? Well, it is quite simple. Professional athletes will never be allowed to bet on sports for obvious reasons, but the situation can change a little bit.
You can see that many ex-athletes decided to dive deeply into the market. Sure, it was after they finished their professional careers. Think about it, for a long time; this was a strange topic. But today, this is a widespread one. Still, we can see that it changes slowly but surely. Of course, numerous elements might change in the future. We will have to wait and see.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, it is uncommon for athletes and ex-athletes to partake in various sorts of gambling. Here, you can take see a couple of examples of how this works in this day and age. Sure, we’ve expanded the subject a bit, but it is important to go wide to understand it completely. We are sure you will find this insight to be useful.
