Sports Bettors: A Systematic Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4309/jgi.2018.38.11Abstract
Sports betting is associated with problematic gambling behaviours. However, little is known about the profile of sports bettors. Also, it is still unclear if there are useful abilities in sports betting. This systematic review aims to describe gambling habits and cognitions of sports bettors, and determine the roles of chance and skill in sports betting. Addressing the chance and skill distinction in sports betting would be helpful to identify which of sports bettors' cognitions are erroneous. Out of 991 studies identified in the databanks, 31 met the inclusion criteria of this review. Results indicate that these studies are mostly conducted with male samples aged from 30 to 50 years. These gamblers bet many times per week, with weekly averages ranging from 100 to 200$ CAD. Five studies examined the roles of chance and skill in sports betting, among which three showed that sports bettors perform better than chance in predicting results accurately, but they do not win more money than they would with a random selection, due to the structure of the game. The 11 studies that focused on cognitions indicate that sports bettors overestimate the influence of skill on the outcome of the game. These results support the need to further study the role of cognitions in the behaviours of sports bettors. It also offers insights concerning the distinction between chance and skill in sports betting.
Résumé
Les paris sportifs sont associés à des comportements de jeu problématiques. Cependant, on sait peu de choses sur le profil des parieurs sportifs. De plus, il est difficile de statuer si certaines habiletés seraient utiles dans les paris sportifs. Cette revue systématique vise à décrire les habitudes de jeu, les cognitions des parieurs sportifs, et à déterminer le rôle du hasard et des habiletés dans ces paris. Examiner la distinction entre le hasard et les habiletés aux paris sportifs serait utile afin de déterminer quelles cognitions entretenues par les parieurs sportifs sont erronées . Sur 991 études repérées dans les banques de données, 31 répondaient aux critères d’inclusion de cette revue. Les résultats indiquent que ces études sont principalement menées auprès d’échantillons masculins âgés de 30 à 50 ans. Ces joueurs parient plusieurs fois par semaine et misent en moyenne de 100 $ à 200 $ CA par semaine. Cinq études ont examiné les rôles du hasard et des habiletés dans les paris sportifs, parmi lesquels trois ont montré que les parieurs sportifs prédisent mieux les résultats sportifs que le hasard, mais ils ne gagnent pas plus d’argent qu’avec une sélection aléatoire, en raison de la structure du jeu. Les onze études portant sur les cognitions indiquent que les parieurs sportifs surestiment l’influence des habiletés sur l’issue du jeu. Ces résultats confirment la nécessité d’approfondir le rôle des cognitions dans les comportements des parieurs sportifs. Ils donnent également des pistes sur la distinction entre le hasard et les habiletés dans les paris sportifs.
Issue
Section
License
Journal Contributors Agreement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The parties intending to be legally bound (the principal author [Author] and the Journal of Gambling Issues [Publisher]), agree as follows:
1. The Author grants exclusively to the Publisher all world-wide rights in this Contribution; including the full copyright therein, the right to publish it as part of the JGI in all forms, languages and media now or hereafter known or developed and including, but not limited to, the right to license subsidiary rights such as granting rights to reprint in anthologies issued by other publishers or to photocopy for classroom use.
2. The Author guarantees that he or she is the sole owner of the Contribution and has full authority to make this agreement; and that the Contribution does not contain any copyright; does not violate any other property rights; does not contain any scandalous, libelous or unlawful matter; does not make any improper invasion of the privacy of another person; and has not been published before, and is not now being considered for publication elsewhere.
If the Contribution has been published previously, the Author guarantees that permission has been obtained, and any fee required has been paid, for publication in the JGI and shall submit proof of such permission and any required credit line to the Publisher with the signed agreement. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Publisher against any claim or proceeding undertaken on any of the aforementioned grounds.
3. The Author shall allow the Editor of the JGI and the Publisher to make the Contribution conform to the style of presentation, spelling, capitalization, punctuation and usage followed by the JGI. The Author agrees to review and correct the copyedited manuscript and proofs and to return them to the editor by the date set by the Editor. If the Editor has not received them by that time, the Author agrees that production of the JGI in which the Contribution is to be included may proceed without waiting for the Author's approval of the manuscript or the proofs.
4. If the Author wishes to publish this Contribution elsewhere, the Publisher shall grant to the Author, for no fee, a nonexclusive License to republish the Contribution in the same form in any language in a book or other media written or edited by the Author after the issue of the JGI containing the Contribution has been published, subject only to the conditions that a credit line, to be supplied by the Publisher, will be printed in the Author's book: to indicate the first publication of the Contribution in the JGI. The Author shall inform the Publisher 30 days before the Contribution is released in any other form.
5. This agreement shall be construed and interpreted through the laws of the province of Ontario, Canada. This agreement shall be binding upon and operate to the benefit of the parties thereto, their heirs, successors, assigns, and personal representatives. Where the Contribution is the product of more than one person, all of the obligations of the Author hereby created shall be deemed to be the joint and several obligations of all such persons as testified by their signatures.
6. The Author shall receive no payment from the Publisher for use of the Contribution.
7. The Author agrees to reference this article using its full and accurate name: Journal of Gambling Issues.
