Sport betting and Spot trading are siblings

I'm always vocal about my distaste for Gambling, especially sports Gambling. I hate a situation where one's fate isn’t entirely dependent on one's actions. Having to depend on the performance of some players before I get paid isn’t something I fancy.

Some will argue that it's safe and not just a game dependent on luck or guessing. The gamblers sometimes take hours to study the previous performance of the team they're putting their stakes on, they check the head-to-head performance of the two teams,

the players available for selection, the venue of the match, the officials and many more. All these, determine how high their stake will be.

My point to counter that is always "...but whatever performance the players display will still be the factor that determines if you win or not and anything can happen in any sport. The underdog might end up creating an upset by defeating the favourites.

I made a promise to myself not to ever indulge in sports betting, especially football. I have friends that do this, in fact, sometimes they come to me to help them predict a match which I either decline or accept depending on the circumstance.

I've seen how betting destroyed the lives of many youths. I've had a personal experience with one and I saw how devastated and sad he was, but he couldn't stop playing because he was already an addict. One thing I need to add is that these sports bets are easily addictive. When your $1 turns to $50, you'll be tempted to play again, this time with a higher amount staked. You keep on staking $10 to win big but the big win never comes. Before you know it, you've spent far more than you won.

Is trading another form of gambling?

I've always argued that Trading isn't gambling. It's far different from gambling because it requires studying and predicting. Double standard right?

With the recent downtrend in the Crypto market, I decided to go back to spot trading. Initially what pushed me into it is the Practical which I did that boomerang. I must have mentioned it in a previous article, about how I bought some Solana and stepped into the Solana NFT community to see how things are done there compared to SmartBCH. I converted about $300 but it turned to $150 or so. I decided to regain all lost $ and went into spot trading. I traded BCH and got back a substantial amount of USD lost.

After this, trading became a habit and I kept on justifying it by saying "It's more advance than gambling, the result isn't dependent on the actions of others but on my calculations ". I was lying to myself since it was working for me. I was increasing the size of my pocket gradually until the day I met my Waterloo.

I bought BCH at $195 and planned to sell at $220 and above but BCH kept dipping. I thought I was an expert at predicting price but all my expertise was put to shame. I decided to cut my losses but a greedy part of me still wanted to make a little profit so I set a sell order at $199. $4 gain is still something.

But the market kept dipping to $115. It was at this stage I had a rethink. The truth I've been running away from was staring at me. The outcome of my little escapades isn't dependent on my actions, wisdom or calculations but on the actions of others. When people buy, it rises and when they sell it falls. Together we are running a Ponzi-like chain, just that this is a "Customized Ponzi".

Conclusion

Since Sports gamblers also do background checks before betting, they aren't different from Traders. The level of risk is just the difference, the former most times lose all or win all, while the latter most times have a little to fall back on when their predictions fail.

Futures is another Crypto trading area that can make someone fall from a thousand to Zero. So I can say I've finally agreed with those who tag spot trading as another form of gambling. All form of gambling is a big risk, and everything in life is a risk so choose your poison wisely.

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