Those who have read this article over the last 30 months or so will know that I do not see sports betting as a gamble but more of a short term investment with admittedly high risk, but very attractive returns. {readmorelink}Read more{/readmorelink}

I put as much research into the weekends Super 14 matches as any stock market player would do before buying or selling a share and since deciding to take it seriously a few years back I have managed to keep my head above water and have shown a profit despite some short term fluctuations in form.

I have found that my punting habits have evolved to the point where I bet almost exclusively on rugby. The reason for this is that I have made my money in this area and so have gravitated to doing more research on rugby in particular leaving me little time to study up on football and other sports.

Fortunately the Goodforthegame website covers a wide range and I am able to have the odd punt on cricket or even the NBA on the back of a fellow punters research. Time though does not allow me to really take advantage of the information out there and frankly I would love to have more of a betting interest in the English Premier League and PSL for example.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could set up a sports betting unit trust?

Punters could buy in up front with a lump sum payment and each week they could go to the website or would receive an e-mail telling them where the fund is investing that week. They would then have an interest in the weekend’s action without having to bet themselves.

The idea would be to show a medium to long term profit and to beat the returns achievable on the stock market, not to make a quick buck and get out. 

Unlike regular funds there would be a predetermined point where you could rebuy or cash out and the idea would be to tap into the expertise of fellow punters across the board – different portfolio managers for different sports.

Most important of all it must be fun and I think it would be great for those sports fans interested in betting but don’t have the time or perhaps the confidence to open a sports betting account.

A dream it remains, but the seed has been planted!

To see what others think of this idea check out this thread on our forum.

This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was first published on the 6^th of May 2010.

Brent Graham is a blogger on www.goodforthegame.co.za and presents a sports betting radio show every Thursday night from 22h00 – 22h30 on 1485AM Radio Today or Channel 169 of the DSTV Audio Bouquet.

You can follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/brentgraham or get on his mailing list by dropping him a line at brent@goodforthegame.co.za