Opening Thoughts
Video gaming can give us an intrinsic knowledge of a range of topics, especially games based on sports and history and influenced by other real-life events. So, can it help us with other markets, too?
Surely, if it helps with sports, it can help us with underlying betting markets. If a game features casino gaming and shows us the ropes, such as Grand Theft Auto, can we translate some of these skills from video gaming into the wider betting world? Let’s take a look.
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Finding Our Feet Via Video Gaming
Speaking from personal experience, I vividly remember learning how gears work in cars from playing a car racing game. I didn’t have good poker knowledge until I played video poker on Grand Theft Auto San Andreas many years ago.
Did this help me with my driving or poker skills? Short answer: No. Although a casino has a similar feel to the sprawling virtual rooms of Grand Theft Auto, and online casinos and virtual games also contain plenty of similarities, these are games of chance.
It helps if you know the rules, but it doesn’t help you to the extent that you have a better chance of winning than the house. An online casino gaming platform mimics many of the video gaming casino options. Still, you do not use real money in these games, and they do not contain live dealers or other nuances, which makes online casino gaming a completely different ballpark.
Expanding Sports Knowledge
Sports gaming is another area that has generated fierce debate within the gambling community. While there’s a clear connection between those people who live and breathe video games to such an extent that they’re able to relay full teams, competitions, and stadiums from memory, does this mean that this knowledge can translate into the world of sports betting, where there’s a lot more nuance to placing a wager than simply having an encyclopaedic knowledge of the sport?
At the risk of stating the complete obvious – understanding that a sport is crucial for any betting market, this is true. You cannot bet safely on any market if you do not have a basic grasp of the sport and the players and teams involved. It’s essentially rule one of responsible gambling. However, there’s a ceiling that is reached. Knowledge is not everything in sports betting, and you can’t tilt the odds in your favour.
Examining Other Sources Of Information
Knowledge comes from so many sources in the digital age. Not to mention that the line between fact and opinion is often blurred in the bowels of the internet, especially on sites like X, formerly known as Twitter, and forums like Reddit.
These vast digital communities contain thousands of active users at any given time, large numbers of primarily anonymous users with no face or profile picture who swarm, posting their opinions as facts, posting their opinions as knowledge, and blurring the line between fact and fiction.
Again, to complicate things, some people in this crowded digital shouting match will be able to provide knowledge and insight. There’s an incentive for people to post sensationalist comments and opinions on X, formerly known as Twitter. Creators with enough followers can get paid in various currencies, including cryptocurrency. There’s an agenda and a goal.
However, if you are building your knowledge from video gaming, you are just playing the game and understanding how different players and teams work. Take everything you see on unreliable social media working sites as opinion, and wait for authentic verification from multiple sources before considering it a fact – that’s usually the best way to operate.
Final Thoughts
It’s not an exact science, but it helps build more neutral knowledge, which you can use to bolster your knowledge and apply to your gambling strategy. This doesn’t mean you will be aware of how to make money; you will just be aware of the markets, the teams, and the players involved. While it definitely helps to know this, it does not guarantee you will make money.
There are no betting markets where you can use knowledge or other tactics to put the odds in your favour. Video gaming knowledge has been shown as something that can help people in professional sports. The most notorious example of this was Will Still, the youngest manager in European football, who used the video gaming Football Manager to assist him during his journey as a professional coach.
Ultimately, remember that sports betting is a game of chance. If it all played out as it should on paper, sports betting companies would not exist, and statisticians would be some of the most well-paid individuals in the sports industry.
Video gaming knowledge will help you understand, but that’s it. There’s no statistical advantage it provides concerning betting. Gamble within your means, do not seek out ways to get an edge on the house (because there aren’t any) – and ensure that you only bet with money you can afford to lose.
