Psychology of E-Sabong | Popularity of Online Cockfighting
Online cockfighting is a popular pastime that attracts a wide range of players from different backgrounds, including regular Filipinos who tend to frequent local cockpits to breeders and high rollers who participate not only in e-sabong but also official tournaments. The main reason for the popularity of e-sabong is the accessibility of a blood sport deeply ingrained in Filipino culture and the convenience of being able to easily place bets on either actual roosters or virtual birds to have a chance to win big.
Popularity through convenience itself isn’t exactly enough reason for e-sabong to be highly sought after as there are plenty of different reasons for people to register at e-sabong sites. Understanding the main psychological factors of why players will want to bet on sabong matches will help understand why the blood sport remains popular even in the digital landscape today.
Psychology of E-Sabong: The Thrill of Competition
The main motivation that players have to play e-sabong is the thrill of the competition. In local cockpits and tournaments, breeders typically pit their own roosters that they carefully bred in the hopes of winning big money from the match and proceeds from the potential offspring while also enjoying the competitiveness of the two breeders’ breeding techniques. Regular bettors can have a measure of that same competition by risking some of their money on a particular rooster and proving other parties wrong for betting on the opponent.
The fact that the most popular form of online cockfighting, live cockfighting, uses actual birds bred by actual breeders mean that different fighting roosters will perform differently even if they are of the same breed. Some Brown Reds might be faster than other Brown Reds or normally strong prized Malays might underperform against an Asil. Carefully analyzing each bird and risking money makes the gambler feel involved in the match and will experience a measure of the same excitement the breeder has when pitting the birds into the pit.
Psychology of E-Sabong: The Allure of Winning
Because bettors who are in it for the money will be looking closely into the different participating fighting roosters, they’ll experience more excitement than the casual bettor as they fully believe that they have a high potential of winning. Careful checks during the ruweda helps bettors have a good idea of which bird will win when they’re knowledgeable about the best sabong breeds and their natural temperaments.
Being able to make informed decisions to influence the chances of winning contribute to the sport’s allure and the overall popularity among different gamblers.
Psychology of E-Sabong: The Thrill of Taking Risks
Betting involves taking risks and even bettors equipped with all the up-to-date knowledge of fighting rooster breeds can still lose when a breeder introduces a known loser that was specifically bred to reverse stereotypes. For the longest time, Greys were considered to be poor fighters until they were developed to beat the Texas red gamefowls by infusing Hatch and Sweater blood into the early Greys and now they are the favorites in many countries. Who knows, a random breeder might have developed a good fighter from ornamental birds like Yokohamas or Sumatras or a new heavyweight fighter reminiscent of the original purpose of the development of the Cornish.
E-sabong will always involve risk which can be exciting in its own right.
Psychology of E-Sabong: Biases in Betting
Similar to how many American bettors once considered reds as superior to the Greys and other off-colored breeds, many bettors will have biases on which birds they think will win matches. Greys are popular now and the likelihood of bettors automatically picking them due to biases is high. These biases can help in gambler retention as bettors may actively look for Greys in online cockpits for some easy wins.
Still, getting overconfident with biases can be costly since not all breeders can produce the same quality of bird so there’s a chance that a breeder will make a weak Grey due to incorrect breeding practices.
Psychology of E-Sabong: Social and Peer Pressure
Because local sabong is popular, many people might be pressured by their peers to join them in the local cockpits. This can then lead to using e-sabong apps to play through them as they’re much more convenient than commuting and the live sabong through DS88 effectively mimics the experience anyway.
Additionally, the large number of bettors preferring e-sabong anyway can make for a compelling argument to hop in the bandwagon and enjoy online cockfighting more than local cockfighting. This is also because there are more matches online than in brick-and-mortar locations.
Conclusion
Online cockfighting is extremely popular thanks to its convenience and many bettors prefer this over the traditional local cockfighting. The psychology of e-sabong largely revolves on the thrill of the experience, biases, and social pressure. While betting can get problematic when practicing irresponsible gambling habits, the sport itself is fun and fairly profitable and rewarding when gaming responsibly.
Start playing e-sabong at Sabong International today and discover yourself why sabong is popular.
