Given the current economic situation, many Kenyans have been seeking alternate sources of income to complement their regular day jobs.
Doing nine-to-five jobs doesn’t just cut it anymore. It has now become very common to find Kenyans having multiple jobs and side hustles to help bolster their income and make ends meet.
In this bid to earn more money, Kenyans have tried out quite a few things, one of the most popular being sports betting.
Technically, sports betting is not a “job”, but then again, when you consider the amount of time Kenyans dedicate to researching games and placing bets, maybe it should be considered as one.
Indeed, many young people see sports betting as a great side hustle- a means to making fast and easy money.
But is this really the case?
Sports betting is at an all-time high in Kenya, with over half of the country’s adult population involved in such activities on a consistent basis.
Kenya sports fans are passionate and knowledgeable about their sports, hence, the belief that they can easily translate this knowledge into money via betting.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work that way. Generally, people lose more money than they make from sports betting.
Think about it this way: Why are there so many bookmakers in Kenya? Their primary objective surely isn’t to help us make money, but instead to make profits.
And how do betting sites make their money? They do so when we lose our bets.
Having said that, sports betting does present opportunities for Kenyans to make money. People have made millions of shillings in the past, and more people will hit the jackpot in the coming years.
However, bettors have to be sensible about the way they go about sports betting. The first thing to understand is that the outcomes of sporting events are totally out of the bettor’s control.
The only people that have direct influence on the outcome of a match are those that are actually playing the match. Even they are vulnerable to external factors like injuries, poor officiating, bad weather and things like that.
Hence, bettors must understand that placing successful wagers is heavily dependent on luck. This will help them put things into better perspective, and not fall into the trap of gambling addiction.
Sports betting can be a good side hustle if you can bet responsibly, and not recklessly.
One way of managing your betting career is by signing up with betting companies that encourage responsible gambling.
The best betting sites in Kenya have responsible gambling techniques like “monthly spending limits”, which help bettors guard against addiction.
While we have established that success in sports betting is heavily dependent on luck, there is also a place for research and study. These help a lot in making the right predictions.
In summary, it’s hard to anoint sports betting as a good side hustle because there are lots of risks involved with very little guarantees of success.
However, as long as you bet responsibly, do your research, use money that you can afford to lose and temper your expectations with the reality of betting, it is not bad to try your luck from time to time.
You may be next in line to hit the jackpot!
