Michigan bettors have their pick between online sportsbooks and casino apps. But which pays out more, sports betting or casino gaming? It all depends on what your goals are. But the short answer is that sports betting has a better chance of paying out in the long run while casino gaming gives you the best chance to become a millionaire overnight.
Either way, the only guaranteed method of success is Responsible Gaming.
Greatest Odds Of Winning: Sportsbook
Sportsbooks offer a bigger variety of player-friendly odds than an online casino. In fact, near-certain wagers are highly common at the sportsbook even though they pay out nominal sums. Even if you win $1 on a $100 bet, that’s still making a profit. That doesn’t exist at an online casino. There’s no card game or slot where you have a 90% chance of winning a small amount of money.
But remember, no sports bet is certain. For example, a bet that the quarterback will make one pass completion at some point during an NFL game feels near-certain – and it will probably happen. However, it might not, and that’s where you could lose serious money on a bet that only would’ve profited 1% of your wager.
Moreover, slots are the most popular games at an online casino. The odds of doubling your money on a slot machine are far lower than the odds of doubling your money on your average points spread or moneyline bet at the casino. If the odds on a game are between +110 and -120, you have a decent chance of turning a profit.
Biggest Win Potential: Casino
You can place bets as low as $0.10 on a slot machine and win million-dollar payouts. While you can certainly win big money with parlay bets at a sportsbook, nothing compares to the win potential of a penny slot. The likelihood of winning the jackpot is low, but if you do hit it, you can walk away rich – despite risking less than a dollar.
Sportsbooks will offer near-impossible bets that are as likely to hit as a progressive jackpot. For example, you can bet that the worst team in the NFL will go on to win the Super Bowl, or combine four highly improbable bets into one ridiculous parlay. Or you could just place the penny slots and hope to hit it big.
For our money, casinos are for the long-shot, life-changing payouts.
Better For The Unskilled: Casino
Betting on sports takes more skill and knowledge than betting at a casino. With sports betting, you have to know the ins and outs of the game you’re betting on as well as a host of other factors, like player stats and team form.
Sure, most sports bettors place bets based on instincts. But, typically speaking, the more informed you are, the more successful you are.
Betting at the casino is a whole different ball game. Most slots players don’t know much about how a slot actually works, they just slide in money and pray for payouts. And you can shamelessly play online blackjack with a strategy card on the screen to make sure you’re playing the best possible strategy.
A million different factors can affect the outcome of a sporting event. Little more than random luck determines what happens at the casino.
Better For The Highly Skilled: Sportsbook
If you’re willing to invest serious time into winning as much money as possible, your best bet is focusing on sports betting, daily fantasy sports, or online poker.
There’s no way to guarantee that you’ll win no matter how good you are, because luck does factor in. But skill also plays a major role, far more so than playing blackjack or roulette.
Read books, practice often, study the overall landscape, and keep an eye on the trends. Like with trading stocks, you can never have too much information when it comes to betting on sports.
Best Welcome Bonuses: Casino
Online casinos usually have better welcome bonuses than online sportsbooks. However, make sure to read all terms and conditions before opting into any promotion. High playthrough requirements have been known to catch players off guard.
For example, BetMGM Casino offers a 100% match up to $1000 for new players while BetMGM Sportsbook offers a risk-free bet up to $600. Both are good, but doubling your money is objectively better than a risk-free bet offer.
Perhaps an even better example, DraftKings Sportsbook offers a 20% deposit match up to $1,000 while DraftKings Casino offers a 100% deposit match up to $1,500.
Best Ongoing Promotions: Sportsbook
Check the various online sportsbook and casino reviews on Michigan Casino Review Bank for the latest monthly promotions. We keep everything up-to-date so you never miss the best deals.
But in general, online sportsbooks tend to have better ongoing promotions than online casinos for one simple reason: sports schedules. There’s no “blackjack season,” but you’re going to find all sorts of promotions during the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs or NBA Finals.
Most Michigan online sports betting apps offer a range of daily odds boosters on select events as well. That’s on top of the less common promotions, such as parlay insurance at FanDuel Sportsbook.
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