…In 2020, Nigeria’s betting industry crossed the $2 billion mark, with over 60 million Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40 spending $5.5 million daily
THUR, JULY 13 2023-theGBJournal |From goal goal to cut one to over 2.5 to a home win, betting is an Investment risk that comes with reward or reproach.
Sports betting is a rapidly growing industry in Nigeria, the first form of sports betting in Nigeria dates back to the colonial era when the British colonial government in the 1920s brought in what is known as “pools betting.”
In the 1950s, the Nigerian Football Pools Association (NFPA) was formed to regulate pool betting in the country.
The NFPA was responsible for collecting pool entries and distributing the proceeds to winners, the 1990s saw the emergence of a new form of sports betting in Nigeria: the sports lottery.
A sports lottery involved betting on the outcome of sporting events, such as football matches, and was similar to pools. The first sports lottery company in Nigeria was Premier Lotto, which was established in 2001.
Sports betting has been legal in Nigeria since 2005. Companies like Winners Golden Bet, NairaBET, and Bet9ja jumped on the trend, and with the likes of Bet King, Betbonaza, and 1xBet joining later.
We now have over hundreds of betting companies, based on statistics, around 66% of people in Nigeria have made a bet on a sporting event at least once in their lives.
In 2020, Nigeria’s betting industry crossed the $2 billion mark, with over 60 million Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40 spending $5.5 million daily.
A National Sports Industry Policy from the same year estimated that the industry could generate up to $4.7 billion in annual revenue (AAR), create up to 10 million jobs, and generate between 1.5 and 3% of GDP over ten years.
According to reports, the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) and the Lagos State Lotteries Board (LSLB) have also issued over 100 betting licenses.
Sports betting laws
Gambling licenses in Nigeria are issued by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. Sports betting is explicitly mentioned in the gambling legislation among casino gambling and lottery.
Licensing: All companies that wish to offer sports betting services in Nigeria must obtain a license from the NLRC. The license is valid for five years and can be renewed.
Taxes: Sports betting companies in Nigeria must pay a tax on their gross gaming revenue. The tax rate is currently set at 7.5%. Apart from the national tax rate, gambling operators have to pay a local state gambling tax.
Advertising: There are strict rules around the advertising of sports betting in Nigeria. Companies are not allowed to advertise their services on television or radio during programs that are intended for minors.
All advertising must also carry a warning about the risks associated with gambling.
Responsible gambling: Sports betting companies in Nigeria must take measures to promote responsible gambling.
This includes providing information about the risks associated with gambling and offering tools to help customers manage their gambling activity.
Age limit: It Is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to place a bet on sports in Nigeria. Sports betting companies must take steps to ensure that minors are not able to access their services.
Betting odds
The odds represent the possibility of a particular outcome occurring, and the bookmaker determines how much you can win on a bet, for example, an away team to win can have 5 odds, and times how much staked gives you your winnings, so 5 odds times #500 staked
Odds
Decimal odds
This is the most common type of odds, which are simply expressed as a decimal number.
For example if the decimal odds are 2.00, there is a 50% chance of that event occurring, if the decimal odds are 3.00, there is a 33% chance of that event occurring; if the odds are 2.5, this means that if you bet #1 and the team wins, you will get #2.50.
Fractional odds
Odds also come as fractions. For example, if the fractional odds for an event are 12, this means that there is a 50% chance of that event occurring. If the fractional odds are 2/1, this means that there is a 33% chance of that event occurring; for example, if United win their first Premier League next season, the odds are3/1, this means that if you bet $100 on them and they end up winning, you will get $300 back—your original stake plus your winnings.
How do bookmakers calculate odds? Bookmakers can calculate odds using probability and statistics.
Probability
Bookmakers look at the chances of an event happening and then convert those into odds, for example, in an even-placed match between United and Tottenham, Tottenham can have a 50% chance of winning the match. The bookmaker will give them team odds of 1.50 (or 3/2 in fractional terms).
They use probability to determine how a match can score goals or how a player can score, with this they determine how the odds should be.
Statistics/Data Analysis
The second way that bookmakers can calculate odds is by using statistics, to do this they will look at data and statistics and use them to predict the likelihood of an event happening.
1. Using teams and players data: teams previous performances and players stats are used to determine odds.
For example, Bayern would get low odds to beat Luton, while Chelsea would get low odds to be beaten by Manchester City.
2. Analyzing trends: when Arsenal were at the top of the league, they had their winning odds reduced due to the trend of people playing them to win, so they had lesser odds to adapt to the trend.
3. Live game options: based on live matches actions, odds can change to reflect the current situation.
4. Offering special promotions or bonuses: special odds can be put up to encourage or draw customers.
For example, a betting firm can give City to win Luton 1.5 odds while others give 0.5 odds just to attract people.
Betting types explained
Win/Draw/Win
Here is the bread and butter of football betting: The Win/Draw/Win bet. This is where you simply wager on the final outcome of a fixture.
The first win corresponds to a home team victory, the second to a draw, and the third to an away team win.
Draw No Bet
A Draw no bet simply means that if the match ends in a draw your stake is returned.
Both Teams to Score
Means both teams are to score a goal you can also against both teams scoring.
Both Teams to Score + Win
This means apart from both teams scoring, a winner must occur and no draw.
Correct Score
Is guessing the exact score of a fixture, whether is at the end of the match or at a particular minute example correct Score 1-1 after 25 minutes of correct Score 2-2 end of game.
Double Chance
Double chance gives you two chances (2 outcomes) to win or draw. You’ll have three options; home win and draw, away win and draw or home win and away win.
Accumulator Bets
Accumulators are the most common football bet there is. It’s a single bet that combines at least four different selections.
In order for the bet to the payout, the final result of each selection has to be correct – if just one result isn’t as you predicted, then the stake is lost.
First Goal Scorer
A First Goalscorer bet is when you guess which player will hit the back of the net first.
Anytime Goal Scorer
This is when you bet on a specific player to score a goal at some point in the fixture.
Team to Score Yes/No
Here is when you bet on whether you think a team will score a goal or not at any point of the match.
Scorecast/Wincast
This is when you wager on who will be the first player to score as well as on the exact final result.
Handicap Betting
A handicap bet is an extremely popular bet type in points-based sports such as football. It involves one team starting the game with more or fewer points to try to even out the advantage that one team has over the other and therefore make the event more exciting from a punter’s perspective.
The Handicap
Example: So if you give Manchester City a -1 handicap to beat Sunderland, then Man City would have to win by 2 goals or more for the bet to win.
Asian Handicap
Asian Handicap bets work in pretty much the same way as a normal handicap. The only difference here is that if your selection fails to overcome the handicap and the game ends in a draw, your stake is returned.
Alternative Asian Handicap
Alternative Asian Handicaps are all the other results that isn’t covered by a normal handicap or Asian handicap bet.
Over/Under
There are lots of different kinds of stats that fall under this category, especially when it comes to online football. An over/under bet type could apply to the number of goals, the number of cards, corners, or even the number of fouls. You are betting whether a statistic will be over or under a given figure.
Goals
With over and under goals bet types you’re wagering on how many goals you think there will be in a game. These are normally broken down into 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.3, and 5.5 margins.
You can bet on whether you think the game will produce over or under 0.5 goals, over or under 2.5, 3.5 etcExample: So If you bet on +1.5 goals, then you would need at least 2 goals to be scored for the bet to win. If you bet on -1.5 goals, then anything over 1 goal and the bet would lose.
Cards
Bet on how many cards you think a game will produce. The margins will vary from bookmaker to bookmaker, however, an example would be where you bet on between 0-20 bookings, 21-40, or 41+.
Corners
How many corners you think there will be in a game. Again the different margins will vary depending on the bookmaker, however, a common split could be 0-9 corners, 10-12, and 13+.
Odd/Even
This is simply when you wager on whether the total number of goals produced in a game will be an odd or an even number.
Specials
Specials are all the weird and wonderful types of bets offered by the bookmaker. They are considered as separate to the normal types of bets you often find, and normally include markets such as the time of the first goal by time interval, the time of the last goal, anytime own goals, clean sheets, or penalties.
You’ll find that different operators will have their own selection of specials bet types so it’s well worth having a good look around to see what’s on offer.
Either way, they allow you to bet on some of the more obscure variables that football matches can often produce.
Penalties
Depending on the bookmaker, special penalties markets can differ. Whereas some may allow you to bet on whether or not the game will produce a penalty. Others will allow you to bet on which team you think it will be to and whether or not it will be converted.
Winning Margin
You have to guess which team will win and guess the exact winning margin.
Minute Markets
Minute Markets allow you to wager on events such as the number of goals, the number of corners, fouls, or sometimes even shots that will take place within a given time period.
These time periods vary from bookmaker to bookmaker, however, they will normally be set at either 10 or 15-minute intervals.
Example: Minute markets give you the chance to make bets where the outcome is decided in a different timeframe to 90 minutes, usually 10, 20 or 30 minutes.
There are many types of bets, such as will there be a penalty, a card, or you can even bet on the result during the time frame.
Red Card Y/N
How many red cards you think a game will produce.
Clean Sheet Y/N
Clean sheets markets are when you can bet on either the home or away side to go the full 90 mins without conceding a goal.
Outright Betting
outright betting is one of the most straightforward bet types there are.
In the past, an outright bet was when you simply wagered on the outcome of an entire league or tournament rather than on an individual fixture.
These days you can wager on alternative markets.
Those include which players will get transferred at the end of the season, which managers will get the boot, and which sides you think will be relegated or promoted. Outright bets are normally placed before the season or competition starts, but they can also be placed while it’s already underway.
Tournament Winner
where you wager on a team to win a tournament or competition.
Promotion and Relegation
Simply bet on which team(s) you think will be promoted or relegated at the end of the season. You can bet on a single or combine different teams that you think will be promoted or relegated as an accumulator.
Top Scorer
which player you think will be the top scorer of the season and win the coveted golden boot. This can be done at the start of the season or during it, but of course, the odds for the likely winner will shrink throughout the season if they are near the top scorer list.
Sacked Manager
Most betting sites have this market, where you can bet on which manager will be sacked next from their job in the league.
Transfers
You simply bet on what transfers you think are going to happen.
Things that can help you to place good bet.-With Wavysport Data Analysis
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