Sports Investing VS. Sports Gambling

I hate to pull a Jeff Foxworthy--or, truth be told, steal his act--but it's time to once again go over differences between Sports Investing and Sports Gambling. This may end up becoming a semi-regular blog entry, maybe even a newsletter article, so we might as well have some fun with it. Here we go. Let's do... Seven this week. Lucky number seven...

1. If you are frothing at the mouth, cursing at the heavens, beating holes in the walls of your apartment, just because it's halftime and the Cleveland Cavaliers are down to the 76ers by 16 points at halftime, and that dime you dropped is gone, gone, gone...

Well, you might be a Sports Gambler then. But if you casually turn on the television as you slip into bed, watch the highlights, relax, see that the Cavaliers won by 8 points--as if there was any doubt--well, that's what we call Sports Investing.

2. If you lose a game, see a crazy line and double your usual wager on the off hand chance that if this hits, you'll be up higher than what you would have been if you never lost in the first place, well my friends, that's Sports Gambling. If you're into Sports Investing, you swallow any bitterness and stick to your money management system, no matter what.

3. If you can't sleep at night because the Charlotte Bobcats were on the road in Denver earlier, +500 on the money line and you had a strong feeling they would win--but, it's Iverson and Anthony, so it was just too risky, even to take the points. Then, the Bobcats win by 4 and now all you can think of is your failure to win all that money...well, that's Sports Gambling. Sports Investing, on the other hand, turns that game into more grist for the mill. The game becomes more information to take into consideration. You'll get it in the long run.

4. Sports Gambling is represented by a person who bets on six, seven game parlays, with prop bets thrown in and some other crazy jive, betting 100 dollars to win 14 gazillion. Right, good wager there. If you keep a slow and steady approach, however, and research each game, stay away from any sucker bets, and keep things as simple as possible--well then, friends, you are a part of Sports Investing.

5. If you bet 10,000 dollars on one of the few mortal locks in the sports wagering universe, Roger Federer against a tough kid named Gonzalez, all to win a hundred dollars...that is Sports Gambling. A wager like that goes against all the principles of Sports Investing. A wager like that is the exact opposite of steady growth, an extraordinary risk to gain a small monetary sum--even if the game was a lock, it's never worth taking part in that kind of action.

6. Sticking with tennis, if you bet a boat load just because you think Maria Sharapova is hot, once again, this is Sports Gambling. If you did your research, saw Serena Williams' play the last couple of weeks, recognized the passion, the desire to win again, and then you bet accordingly on what turned out to be a dominant performance dedicated to a sister no longer on this earth-- always a strong push for athletes--then that is Sports Investing. And of course, you downloaded pictures of Sharapova afterward...because she is hot.

And finally...

7. If you are willing to bet another boat load on the Super Bowl according to a simulation done by the Madden video game, you are Sports Gambling through and through, my friend. But if you, once again, do your research, keep your mindset slow and steady--and, if nothing really sticks out at you, avoid wagering in the first place, then you are the epitome of Sports Investing.

Remember, just because it's the Super Bowl doesn't mean you have to put money on it. One game doesn't make or break a person--or, it shouldn't. If it does, then you're Sports Gambling ass better get Power Position Betting's product that's all about Sports Investing, because gambling like that is no way to go through life, my friends.

And as always, stay sharp, play smart.