Sports Betting, Gambling in Disguise that has infiltrated African Youth.

Some might argue that sports betting is not gambling since it focuses on wagering on specific outcomes. But the fact is that, sports betting is indeed a form of gambling because it is still a chance-based activity. The urge to engage in sports betting has significantly grown in this part of the world, where about 41% of the population in Ghana participates in sports betting, according to [a survey by TGM Research](https://tgmresearch.com/gambling-sports-betting-market-research-in-ghana.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20results%20of,within%20the%20last%2012%20months.) on sports betting. The government is making huge amount of money from sports betting tax which is 10% of every withdrawal made from a betting site.

From personal experience, sports betting is an extremely addictive activity and the youth have embraced it as a means of income generation. I was influenced into this act four years ago, my first year in the university which was strictly by peer influence. Eventually, I was able to lure some of my colleagues into betting too. I was in this act until my curiosity led me to make money on blockchain and this was what saved me from the act.

Fewer people are lucky to have made fortunes out of betting but if you take a critical look at the matter, it has caused harm to, outnumber the people who benefit. There is this brother of mine whose gambling life started through sports betting. He used to make a lot of money from betting and even became very popular for his precise predictions. Fast forward, things changed as he started exploring the casino integrations in the various betting applications. He got addicted to these spinning games which eventually drained all his money because he was so addicted. As I am writing this, all his salary ends in gambling and his life has been miserable.

Whenever I have a negative thought about going back to betting when I hear that someone has won huge amounts of money, I quickly remember the current state of my brother and back off. There are many of his kind in society who got into serious gambling through sports betting.

As I stated in the early part of this writing, 2 out of every five people in Ghana, both young and old have involved in sports betting and it is regarded as a money-making scheme here. This I believe is due to the brilliant marketing strategies being used by the betting companies like Betway, Sportsbet, and others. If you are reading this and you are someone who is in the act of sports betting, I would like to urge you to take some time to ponder it and be careful of the consequences it may cause.

This post is an entry to #octoberinleo in #inleo, can I invite my readers to also check it out to take part in interesting writing prompts.

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