Recently, fantasy sports has become the talk in the world of virtual gaming. This is because playing fantasy games is one of the most popular hobbies of sports fans around the world. There are people who love to play virtual gaming while there are other people who have no clue about it.
It is currently estimated that more than 75 million people will participate in fantasy sports this year, and that number is only going to continue to grow in the future. While fantasy sports or virtual gaming is a great way to spend your free time, there are also some issues with this popular activity.
Well, today, we are going to remove all your doubts about fantasy cricket and we will also try to provide a brief of the risks associated with it.
Fantasy Business is a New Way of Betting or Gambling
People nowadays show a great interest in fantasy sports as they find it a great way to stay close with their friends. Also, they find it a great chance of winning money without putting in any effort.
Well, the bitter truth is that these gaming sports are not reliable. Fantasy sports is a part of gambling that can become very addictive if you are not careful. Using your sports knowledge to win money is a huge rush which makes people get addicted to it.
If someone, even if he has adequate knowledge about a sport let’s say cricket, there are huge chances that he/she may lose money.
Now, many sports-loving persons find it hard to digest the fact that fantasy sport is gambling. They consider these sports as a game of skills not a game of chance. However, this is not so true. Firstly, try to understand the terms investment and gambling.
Investing Vs Gambling
We heard many people saying they don’t put their money in share or mutual funds as they don’t like to gamble. However, investing and gambling are two different things.
Gamblers are those who do anything for the winning amount; they are not afraid of taking risks and eventually lose all the money and go empty-handed. Investors, on the other hand, is a well-researched process.
Here are the fundamental difference between investing and gambling:
Investment is based on research while gambling depends on luck
Gambling is an uncertain event. Investing is an activity that requires much knowledge, research and skills. Gambling on the other hand is an uncertain event that solely depends on emotions.
If someone wants to invest in the right asset, he first needs to do enough research, understand their goals, and financial information. Gambling doesn’t require any such information. In the case of fantasy sports, if your money goes, there is no other way to buy it back.
In gambling, the result is dependent on the outcome of throwing a dice i.e. only one participant will win.
While in the stock market, if ten investors hold the shares of the same company and if the price goes up, all of them will make a profit.
Investing in the Long term while Gambling is Short term
Investing is done for the long term. Let’s say for 5 years or it could be extended for 10 years or more. Gambling is done for a shorter period such as for hours, or sometimes it can be stretched to a couple of weeks or months but not for a year.
Investing provides ownership of an asset, Gambling doesn’t
Investing in share trading, mutual funds or any other assets gives investors ownership of the asset. In gambling, if you put money into it, either you will get more money or no money. There is no ownership assigned to participants at the end of gambling transactions.
Investing is well-planned, gambling isn’t
Investing can happen with a specific goal in life. The goal could be anything like retirement planning, education, house planning, vehicle planning etc. While batting is done in pleasure to earn more money. One can also plan its future goals based on gambling but the risk is comparatively too high.
Investing isn’t Addictive, Gambling is
Several organizations identify gambling as addictive and lead to severe mental problems. While there are no such cases associated with investing. Instead, investing is a financial practice that is done for a healthy economic life.
Thin Line of Difference Between Investing and Gambling
It is extremely important to learn the thin line between investing and gambling.
Gambling is quite riskier than investing. The risk tolerance level of gamblers is slightly higher than investors. Gambling is a risk taken under certainty while investing involves risk under uncertain conditions. Gambling mainly depends on luck while investing on the other hand purely depends on practice, patience and knowledge.
Stock Trading is not Gambling
Many people think putting money into the stock market is gambling. However, this is not so true. Share market trading in the stock market is not like a dice game.
In fact, trading is one of the best ways of investment as it involves examining past information of stock aka stock market research, analyzing its past performance and predicting its future growth with the help of fundamental analysis and technical analysis and other methods.
To invest in the right stocks, traders analyze their past trades, and then plan out their strategy such as which stocks to buy, at how much quantity and how much amount need to spend. Investors are well known before spending a single penny into it. These are the prerequisite for stock market trading.
Fantasy Sports Sites Banned in 7 States of India
Recently, fantasy sports sites have been banned in 7 states of India including Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andra Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Nagaland and Sikkim.
Reasons Why Fantasy Sports banned in These States
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- One of the top reasons behind banning these sites is that if you win a huge amount, let’s say Rs 10,000 from these sites, then you are required to pay 31% as tax.
- Secondly, most of these sport sites are promoted by famous cricketers and because of this many youths are encouraged to play these apps. Due to bad influence and non-adequate knowledge, many people are losing their money and some even did suicide.
- Many children below 18 years of age are using their parent’s information to verify fantasy sports accounts, which may be the reason for banning these apps in these states.
Takeaway
Fantasy sports apps is another example of gambling and therefore it is suggested to stay away from such sites. Instead, spend your time investing in different sectors. When it comes to investment, the stock market comes second to none. Investing in the right stocks with adequate knowledge leads to huge gains.
