Re: Percentage of sports bettors who win
 

Bets between friends often are related to teams. For example I have friends who are Cowboy or Leaf fans who make fun bets vs other team supporters. That is different. This is someone trying to make money betting having his brother bet against his ability to do so.

The way I see it this is like making a prob bet that your brother will fail at something.

If the brother was up for a promotion / getting married / going to university and you could get action that he would fail at this (and had good reason to suspect he would) would it hurt his feelings if he found out you bet against him? I think for most people they would be very hurt.

Re: Percentage of sports bettors who win
 

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If the brother was up for a promotion / getting married / going to university and you could get action that he would fail at this (and had good reason to suspect he would) would it hurt his feelings if he found out you bet against him? I think for most people they would be very hurt.

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I agree, but I don't think it's a fair comparison because you're talking about life achievement things where it's good to support someone. OP is talking about wagering on football teams, and I don't think it's nearly as insulting.

I do agree that BLINDLY taking all his action is different than betting each other on certain games where you just disagree strongly.

Re: Percentage of sports bettors who win
 

Why would you have to hide this? He wants to bet on sporting events just tell him the deal that if you feel like fading his bets you might not place them. I think you may have honesty issues in your family or just need to be a little more straight up in general.

Re: Percentage of sports bettors who win
 

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Bets between friends often are related to teams. For example I have friends who are Cowboy or Leaf fans who make fun bets vs other team supporters. That is different. This is someone trying to make money betting having his brother bet against his ability to do so.

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Henry,

I think as someone who makes a living betting sports, your point of view is different than my brother's.

For recreational gamblers like him, he just likes to have some action on the game he's watching. Of course, he likes to win, but it's not going to affect his lifestyle if the Cowboys lose. It's entertainment.

It's a hobby for him and it cost him a little money. For you, it's a business. You don't do it for the excitement. You do it because you enjoy having an edge.

It's the difference between a card counter and someone who knows basic strategy in blackjack. It's the same game, but it's not the same league.

If he were to quit his job and decide that he wanted to bet sports full-time, then yes, I think it would be shameful for me to take all his actions. However, seeing how it's just a little hobby, at the absolute worst, I'm not doing much more than being a little sneaky.

I don't think there's anything wrong with what I'm doing, but you and some others make some good points and it probably wouldn't hurt if I slowly let him know that I don't place all of his bets. I'm considering it.

Even though I don't 100% agree with you, thanks for your input.