I’ve always wondered; is there a difference between forex trading and online betting? Like, both of them involve people investing a significant amount of money, making predictions based off of factors they have no control over, and expecting a huge payoff. However, for many people, that huge payoff almost never comes. They do get it in little bits but many will never get a huge amount of money that will change their lives.
It’s that wish to change their lives and shake everything that makes it all become an addiction. I know that there are people who are so engrained into betting that they can’t stop. They just keep itching to place bets on anything at all, even the fact that they’re losing everything that they own doesn’t mean anything.
I know a friend who got so deep into this that he had to sell off most of his properties just to feed the habit, I know of another who lost a great relationship simply because of such a thing. So, the addiction to the game is real and it’s really ruining lives. However, can the same really be said for Forex? Can we really say that just because we don’t have a lot of sad stories regarding forex then people don’t really lose money through the platform?
Because from my point of view, it looks like the same thing. However, society doesn’t look at both through the same lens. When you sell everything you own to trade forex, you’ll be called a risk taker. You might also be called foolish, but at least you’ll be a foolish risk-taker. And people will ‘understand’ why you had to do what you had to do. However, the reception will be very different if you sell everything you own to bet on a game. You won’t be called a risk taker. Just an addict. Or a foolish addict. Who knows?
Still, there are some variables between the two. Forex deals in the trading of currencies from different countries and so many things can affect the day's trading. From government policies to natural disasters and even trending topics. Something could happen in the news that would affect the market positively or negatively. The best traders are those who don’t just read the market, they also follow the news and have their ears to the ground for update. They then use these updates to predict the direction the market will flow.
Something as basic as an increase in fuel price or the outcome of a presidential election is enough to tip the market in favor of the trader. As we all know, forex trading goes way beyond studying candles and lot sizes. Most of us have been there before.
However, it’s a different ballgame entirely for betting. Here, you place your money on actual people or animals. You use past achievements to predict current matches, hoping that things will go your way. While there is always a lot of info floating around about the world of sports, there is no way we can know what is going on in the minds of the individual players. We can’t know their state of mind in the game. And honestly, every game you place a bet on is 50/50, it can either go one way or the other. As simple as that.
So, when you look at it some other way, betting is very different from Forex, and don’t let anyone try to convince you otherwise. However, it doesn’t change the fact that they both have the power to cripple you financially if you have no discipline.
The reason I picked out only forex and betting is because they’re the only ones where many people only ‘claim’ to make money off it. However, what they do is rip off gullible people. In betting, there are those who “predict sure odds” for a fee, of course. And in forex, there are those who sell “courses guaranteed to make you rich”, that never really work. Crypto and the others don’t have as much bad PR, which is why only those who are ready actually go in. You learn crypto with hands-on experience, and not by reading countless PDF files about candle sticks and lot sizes.
But it’s all good because, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. All you’re doing is basically to put two cents in and get a dollar out. That’s a risk, and that’s investment. But tell me, what investment has ever come without risk?
Anyway, now might be a good time to remind you that I’m just a writer. Not a professional trader, or a… professional better(?)… is that even a word?🤦♂️ So, these are simply my thoughts, and don’t take them as that of an expert. So, better don’t quote me anywhere ooo! Still, I would love to know what you think of these…
