I have been a gambler as long as I can remember. I started playing in poker games with friends in home games when I was 16, and that spawned a profitable poker career. I also became a profitable sports bettor after I shifted much of my time to writing gambling content. I even have experience with casino gambling in the form of advantage play.
Yes, The Coronavirus Has Affected Gambling On All Fronts
It’s no secret that gaming revenues are down. There are some outliers, such as online casinos seeing a tremendous increase in traffic, but land-based casinos across the United States are closed down. Professional sports have been shut down since March.
Overall, gambling revenues are in the toilet.
However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t edges for players to attack and ways to increase your knowledge of betting markets and other forms of gambling. Right now is an excellent time to take advantage of the offers that are out there for online gamblers.
Well, There Still Are Some Sports
Yes, let’s not forget about Korean Baseball and Belarusian Soccer. Seriously, though, there are still some things to bet on, and there is a lot of value betting smaller markets. Aside from the more off-the-wall sports around the world, there is one sport mostly unaffected by COVID, and it is one that bettors should be attacking.
Start Betting eSports
If there is one area to improve your betting knowledge, it is with eSports. eSports is still a small market but is growing each year rapidly. Even without COVID, it would be a market to target for bettors who want to gain an edge on the sportsbooks in areas where they are still weaker compared to mainstream sports
League of Legends (LoL), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), and Defense of the Ancients (DOTA II) are just some of the eSports available for wagering. Limits are still low for these sports, but by using multiple betting sites, it is easy to get a lot of money down on markets that still feature soft lines.
If you don’t have the time to learn eSports, there are many sites that offer free betting picks from experts when it comes to eSports and other major markets, such as the NFL or NBA.
Deposit Bonuses And Promotions Are Still Excellent
The promotions offered by online betting companies, such as freeplay have not gone away during the pandemic. In fact, they have gotten even better in many cases. If you’re new to online gambling, there are tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands in freeplay bonuses available to you.
Even with a smaller bankroll, you can easily move around your funds using cryptocurrencies, taking advantage of bonuses at an online sportsbook or a real money online casino. Once you have cleared a bonus, withdraw and move your bankroll to another site and start the process again.
If you’re new to online gambling and have accounts at just a few or no sites, then this is a great time to take advantage of the promotions offered. You will get a massive boost to your gambling bankroll.
Take The Time To Expand Your Knowledge
There will be some time until major sports return, and if you’re new to sports betting, then now is a great time to learn the basics and expand your scope of knowledge. Football will be back before you know it, and it appears that MLB and the NBA will also be back in action in a month or two.
It’s one thing to understand sports betting and casino gambling from a perspective of how to place bets and how payouts work. Still, a deeper understanding is necessary to become a profitable and successful gambler.
Spotting profitable bets and understanding the game theory behind different markets and games is a must if you want to become a profitable bettor. The basics of most forms of gambling are simple, but advanced strategies, ones that can lead to profitability, are much harder to grasp.
Now is a great time to develop your strategy for that new casino game, learn Texas Hold’em poker for the first time, or dive into that exciting eSport. Gambling will soon be back in full swing, and now is the time to hone your skills.
About Joseph Falchetti
Joseph Falchetti is a sports betting and gambling expert for Safest Betting Sites. Joe has an extensive background as a writer and gambler of all types and provides free picks on the blog. He was a professional poker player and sports bettor for eight years until he decided to make the switch to writing sports gambling content, especially about NFL football betting, after the Black Friday seizures against PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker in April 2011.