Sportowe zakłady bukmacherskie. Społeczna praktyka grania
Sports betting. The social practice of gambling

Author(s): Przemysław Nosal
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Sociology, Social Theory, Sports Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: sports betting; gambling; sociology of sport; theories of social practices
Summary/Abstract: Sports betting combines the typical attributes of gambling with sporting events. Sports bettors put money on a particular result of a football match, boxing fight or horse race. Unlike roulette, craps or the lottery, however, they are faced with a situation where a very large number of factors determine the game’s outcome. The practice of sports betting is thus a laboratory of processes related to risk and decision-making, but also the analysis of the social world, the attribution of meanings to activities or the adherence to a specific worldview. This book aims to answer the question of how bettors engage in sports betting – why they perceive it to be attractive to them, what betting is for them, and how they know how to bet or how they actually do so. The book tries not only to describe the social phenomenon of betting but also to place it within a broader cultural context. To do so, it uses theories of social practices. This group of concepts makes it possible to see in the actions of individuals both the influence they are subject to and the influence they exert on culture, lifestyles or technology. Using such a framework has made it possible to bring out the complexity of sports betting and to discern connections with other areas of social life.

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