Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the interviewee and do not reflect the opinions of Zikoko or Big Cabal Media. Please exercise discretion.
Almost every woman you know has a side hustle, from selling clothes, perfume, jewellery, or creating content to freelance work, to stay afloat. In Lagos, where the cost of living for a single person (without rent) amounts to three times the minimum wage, many women juggle tight schedules between school, work and family and look for quick ways to make money. Some earn from small trades, others take more unusual routes.
For 22-year-old Doyinsola*, that route is gambling, and she’s good at it. She started with sports betting but now stakes on a range of markets and tokens. In this article, she talks about how she began, how she manages risk and addiction, and what it feels like to be a woman in a space still dominated by men.
How did you first get into betting?
My origin story is really boring. I grew up around men who gambled, so sports betting felt normal. I got into it in 2023 because I liked the idea of a quick buck and wanted to try my luck.
In the beginning, I was very careful, only staking small amounts of money infrequently. I also made a lot of near-impossible odds instead of playing strategically to win; I think I just wanted to get lucky.
Around six months ago, I heard about a crypto-entrenched social media app, which led me into Web3. The culture there is heavily influenced by gambling.
Is sports betting the only kind of gambling you do?
No, not really. Sports betting introduced me to gambling, but it’s a small part of what I do now. There are many ways to gamble besides sports. For the record, we no longer call this betting; we call it prediction markets.
I use apps where you can create a question and stake on one answer. It could be as simple as whether more people prefer cats to dogs. Then the bet becomes whether or not most people would pick the same answers as I did. Right now, there’s a really large pool on whether the Trump-Epstein files will be released.
I still do sports betting, but I also stake on things like presidential policies or the better drink between matcha and coffee. I also trade tokens, but I make more money from gambling than anything else.
What’s the main attraction for you?
It’s fun, and the adrenaline makes it more than just a side hustle. It’s only been a couple of months, but I’m actually excited to see where this is going.
Maybe I am a little bit of a gambling enthusiast, but I also preach responsible gambling. Yes, there’s a real chance you’ll lose your money, but if you have money that you can afford to lose and it can potentially make you more money, why not go forth and prosper?
Do you research your stakes before you place them?
Research is a big word for what I do. Some outcomes you can predict with some common sense, and others are random. It all depends on how much risk you’re willing to take. I participate in both, but the amount I invest in each is different. As a general rule, if a lot of my money is going into a bet, I’ll think about it long and hard.
But most of my bets are freestyle. This is why they call this thing Degen, it’s a bit of degenerative gambling.
How many bets do you place a day?
If you’re not including trading, I’d say two on average. I don’t like to do too much. There are some days (mostly on the weekends) when there are a lot of matches playing, and I don’t have school so I have time to monitor my bets. On days like that, I just sit and place as many bets as I can.
Is it your main source of income?
Until recently, yes. I got super lucky on a few early bets and reinvested the winnings. I know it’s unstable and not something I can continue to depend on indefinitely, but as of now, yes, it is my main source of income.
What did you do before you started gambling, and how has that changed?
I’m a student, which still takes most of my time. Before I started gambling, I worked as a freelance writer and social media manager. I’ve done a number of things leading up to that, but my most stable job was virtual tutoring. For a few years, I worked for an academy that provided tutors for African children in the diaspora. I quit my job a while ago because I no longer had passion for it. The more I got into the gambling space, the more I relied on this streak of luck to fund my lifestyle.
There are professional gamblers out there, but I’m not interested in it. Also, I’m nowhere near close to making a career out of it, but gambling has surprisingly given me opportunities to do the things I actually want to do. I now make more money than I ever have.
I’m currently looking for a job that fits my tight schedule (preferably something within the space that is more ethical than simply betting), but I haven’t found something yet. I’m in a very transitional period at the moment.
What’s the biggest stake you’ve ever placed?
The most I’ve staked in naira was about ₦80,000 to win ₦140,000. The biggest return on a small stake was when I put in ₦7,500 and won ₦150,000.
Wow. What if you’d lost those bets?
I only risk that much money because the odds are low. My anxiety prevents me from staking everything on one outcome. I prefer spreading small sums across many bets. It reduces both profit and loss.
Do you think you have an addictive tendency?
Hmm. Don’t we all? I mean, gambling is a dopamine hit and like everything else that causes dopamine, there will always be a risk of addiction.
I grew up around men who gambled, but I never saw someone lose everything, so I learned to be cautious. I set monthly loss limits and stop when I reach them.
There are times I regret not placing a bet that would have paid off, but I’d rather regret on the side of caution than lose everything.
What checks do you impose on yourself?
Nothing too complicated. I give myself limits on how much I’m allowed to lose in a month. Once my losses start to approach the limit, I scale it back so I’m not losing a lot of money. I have a complicated relationship with this industry. Whenever I don’t gamble, sometimes, I’m tortured by the idea of all the money I could have made.
How does it feel to be a woman in a male-dominated space?
Get‑rich‑quick spaces are male-dominated. Men often don’t take you seriously at first and assume you’re joking. That frustrates me. I’m persistent. I ask questions, seek tips, and try to learn daily. Breaking into crypto or getting a mentor is hard when most people in the space are men.
Do you face judgement from men in these spaces?
A little. Many men think betting isn’t feminine or that it is razz. I think that’s a notion that is starting to die but I can’t really say.
When people ask you what you do for a living, are you comfortable telling them?
It depends on the context in which I’m being asked. There are certain people I explicitly don’t want to talk to about this especially in professional settings. I won’t even say I’m comfortable talking about this at all because when people ask what I do, I just say something vague like I’m into Web3 or Crypto and don’t give any further details.
But I’m very proactive and I’m trying to get ahead in this space, so when I’m trying to make connections with people that do what I do or with my friends, I feel free to talk about it.
Why aren’t you comfortable with it?
I personally don’t think it’s immoral or unethical, but occasionally, I feel I’m being irresponsible. I mean, it’s a bit crazy when you think about the fact that I pay my bills by betting. Perhaps I’ve internalised this guilt due to public perception, but I sometimes feel uneasy about it.
What emotional impact does gambling on you or the people around you?
I try to keep gambling separate from the rest of my life. I see it as a short-term hustle, not s who I am as a person. I’m not ashamed of what I do to survive, but I don’t brag about it either. Even with my closest friends, I rarely discuss it or go into details a
In a world where gambling doesn’t work for you anymore, how do you think you’ll adapt?
Gambling is very unpredictable, and it’s very irresponsible for any adult to gamble for a living. I’m not trying to do end up in the streets. Like I said earlier, I’m actively looking for stable jobs that align with my interests and things are looking up. If the prediction markets crashed tomorrow, it would take some adjustment, but I’d ultimately be fine. I’ve always had other skills to fall back on.
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