The Upside of Betting: SportPesa

I went to church last Sunday. Am not that guy who goes to church regularly but on this particular day, I had to show the lady of the house that I also know how the alter looks like.

The preacher on that day was fiery. I was not sure whether he was still the same one I had seen three years ago, (the last time I had seen the altar) but the voice seemed familiar.

The man of God was talking about ‘betting’ and why he thought it should not be made look evil. “How can something that is making people who have never seen a million, leave alone touching, instant millionaires be called evil?” He asked.

I paid more attention on this topic because a few days before, I had been hit with an epiphany during my sleep about betting and from the way the man of God was talking, he seemed as though he had some sure bets he was going to advise us to wager on. In fact, at that point, my data was already active and I was on the SportPesa homepage browsing through the teams that I even never knew existed.

“I never supported betting until my son won 50,000 shillings from SportPesa,” the preacher said with conviction.

“Amen,” the ladies sitting at the front shouted, they were probably choir members.

According to the man of God, that day, his rent was due. He woke up and prayed to the Man Above for guidance on how he was going to get to pay his rent. “The miracle came through my son. He had placed a bet on SportPesa, something I had always dismissed and he won 50,000 shillings. Should I have refused that money, force my son to his knees because it was evil? No way!” The whole church was roaring with laughter.

When I left the church, I told myself, the same way most Kenyans do, “hilo neno limeniguza” and that was how I started to think critically about betting. What shocked me more is that the lady of the house had also been ‘guzward’ with the powerful word. “Wenzako wanakuwa mailionea huku nje na hawatoi jasho,” (Your peers are becoming millionaires without sweating.” She said. As a man, I felt insulted but deep inside, I knew she was right.

Come to think of it, SportPesa has made some people instant millionaires just out of the blues. We have had individuals winning the mega jackpot with as much as more than 200 million shillings. What is even more interesting is that these individuals don’t even use a lot of money to place their bets.

Many are of the opinion that betting is a game of ‘how lucky one is’ but I think betting is about how smart one is, and by smart, I mean having a good knowledge on the sports industry. This isn’t to say that if you are inexperienced you can’t win. There are those who have no idea how they even won, all they can do is thank their lucky stars!

Nonetheless, a little background in the industry goes a long way in helping you win. They say that when it comes to investing, you must invest smart, but I say, when it comes to betting, you have to bet smart.

When you bet, you are ‘investing’ in three ‘opportunities’; winning, losing and drawing. Most people bet with one ‘investment’ in mind, winning forgetting that there is losing at some point. Those with open and flexible minds have never regretted betting.

SportPesa, although it basically is gambling, has transitioned the lives of many. People will talk while others continue to be rich. Unlike other forms of gambling, you won’t feel cheated. After placing the bets, you await the results and if you lost, you know where you failed.

“Do you know why I love placing my bets on SportPesa my fren, (Friend)? It is because am placing my money where I know and when I lose, I know that I have lost because when the teams play, and the team I have placed a bet for loses, I will accept the same way I would do if it won. Forget about other ‘charities’ where people gamble with numbers running into the 50s. SportPesa is like an investment, sometimes you earn profits, sometimes you don’t. It is like the stocks,” said Rufus Magara, a friend of mine who spends almost 8 hours daily analyzing games. People call him mganga because apparently, almost all his predictions about games often come true.

I wasn’t surprised at all. For one, just like in business, SportPesa tests your faith on whether you are a risk-taker or not. We all know that a good investor brace himself for risks for when it pays, it does so really well.

A while ago, football and talent in this country had regained meaning thanks to SportPesa. I wish SpoertPesa was a Ministry of Sports but as the old cliché goes if wishes were horses…. Within a very short time, teams had gotten sponsorships, stadiums being renovated and talents being cultivated. That was before someone saw an avenue to impose a 35 percent tax on their income. I still hold the view that that tax was abnormal and should be reconsidered.

There are thousands of people who are totally unemployed but because of their betting skills, you might think they are employees of SportPesa because they are always earning from their ‘hard work.’