That doesn't have much to do with the wager itself as it is concerned with a potentially infinitely negative or positive outcome seen through the lens of belief in an afterlife of some sort.

If we are merely concerned with life in itself, then religious belief is redundant: you can indeed strip its useful aspects through careful study but leave the actual belief aside

Agreed. My only point is that your wager need not be limited to dogmatic adherence of existing religions. You can create your own God in a sense.