September 2, 2024 | 12:00am

Sports fans from around the world love playing the odds. Trying to predict outcomes, point spreads and performances makes things more exciting. But sports betting can also take a dark turn, if you don’t control it.

In a study entitled “Gambling Away Stability: Sports Betting’s Impact on Vulnerable Households” published only this July, researchers from Northwestern University, University of Kansas and Brigham Young University have determined that more Americans bet on sports rather than invest their money. Legalization of sports gambling has caused an uptick in participation. The study says “This increase does not displace other gambling activity or consumption but significantly reduces households’ savings allocations, as negative expected value risky bets crowd out positive expected value investments.”

In some cases, families sell stocks to bet on sports. This may seem to be illogical, but economic decline and other factors cause desperation among those who are uncertain about their employment future or financial stability.

In the Philippines, sports betting online has been proliferating. Many entities, foreign and local, have been able to fulfill the requirements of PAGCOR and now freely advertise online and in other media. In a more fiscally immature country like the Philippines, should we be worried? Not if we take precautions to ensure that it is a pastime for us and not an addiction.

First, play only with your own money. Using other people’s financial means only generates a ripple effect off other problems, like escalating debt and economic pressure. Secondly, place a limit on how much you are willing to lose. Don’t take it from the household needs, but from disposable excess funds only. Third, understand that there is no such thing as a lucky streak. Every time you bet, whether you won the previous one or not, the odds remain prohibitively against you. The house always wins, no exception.

If sports betting gives you the adrenaline rush you can’t get anywhere else, do it only every so often if you can afford it. As they say, don’t bet the house against the house. This will guarantee purer enjoyment without unnecessary stress.