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The growing popularity of fantasy-based competition in India is clear for everyone to see. Companies like Dream11, MyTeam11, MPL (Mobile Premier League), and others have some of the biggest names in Indian sports on their payroll to help advertise their wares.
The soaring valuations that these names command also make it clear to see that the money is pouring in. More and more people are joining these leagues which are thinly veiled forms of gambling, no matter what the Supreme Court of India might say!
All this got us thinking. Are people just better off placing bets on online betting sites in India?
Hear us out. We are going to take cricket as an example when we talk here because that is by far the sport most people bet or play Dream11 on.
Better odds to win
The basic premise of gambling or playing a fantasy-based game like Dream11 is exactly the same. You try to select some players that will do well and then put some money on it. In fact, the odds of you getting back or winning some significant money is much better with traditional betting sites like Betway.
You are betting against the ‘house’ when you bet online. So if you paced Rs.1000 on Virat Kohli hitting a 50 at $2.00 odds, you are going to get back Rs.2000 no matter what anyone else does.
The odds of you getting one such instance or occurrence in the game right is much more than you beating hundreds of thousands of other players.
Betting is simpler than fantasy-based games
You do not need to make too many choices or decisions when you bet on a game of cricket.
You can, for example, choose to bet on a match-winner. India vs Bangladesh. Pick the winner. That is it. Now wait for the result of the match and see if you won or not.
In a similar fantasy-based game. You need to pick eleven players out of 22. For you to have any chance of winning even a small prize, at least 9-10 out of those players must do well. If you want to win something big, every single player that you pick must have a great game. Also, your Captain and Vice-Captain selections must be spot on.
The number of things that have to fall in place for you to win some money is immensely greater.
You can bet as you watch the match
This, perhaps, is the biggest advantage when it comes to betting vs Fantasy-based games. You can continue to place bets as the match is unfolding. Anyone who watches cricket (or any other sport) knows that you can judge the direction in which a game is going much better while watching it.
The conditions may be in favor of one team, a batsman may be having a great day, or a bowler may be having a very bad day. You can continue to bet on the result and other occurrences in the game as you are watching.
This is just not possible with Dream11 or other fantasy apps where all the decisions have to be made before the first ball is bowled. The element of luck is far greater when you are making decisions without seeing the match and thus the chances of you getting all your picks right are much lesser.
Hedging
This can be a bit tricky but experienced bettors can pull this off. You may have made a bet early on in the game which you know is not going to pay-off. You can minimize your losses by placing a bet on the opposite result. This is called as hedging.
Under certain situations, you may even be able to hedge your bets such that you are assured of not losing anything regardless of what the result ends up being.
Such kind of flexibility is just not possible with fantasy-based games.
In conclusion, we have no doubt that the vast majority of users in India would be better off betting online rather than wasting their money on fantasy-based games.
