BETTING on sporting events has long been a part of the culture of most of humankind. Here in the UK we still have the traditional high street "betting shops" that I remember from the days of my childhood, and my 70-something father remembers from his. Names such as Ladbrokes and William Hill seem to have been around for eons and anyone who, like me, spent any time in these establishments in the days before we had the internet will recall the tension amid the smoky atmosphere as men stood glued to the little television screen to see whether the horse which they'd placed next week's rent money on had triumphed.
I exaggerate, of course. There were always those who would stand in the betting shop all day nonchalently placing 50p or £1 a time on accumulators which seldom paid dividends, but which had the potential to change one's life if they did. Those of us who recall Frankie Dettori's historic seven-race victory at Ascot in 1996 will know that dreams do sometimes come true (sadly I wasn't on that particular acca on that momentous day, but a friend had the first five races and made a tidy sum on that).
Today the local bookmaker's is a tad less seedy than it must once have seemed to the uninitiated, with clear glass windows, no smoking (or throwing your discarded slips on the floor in disgust) allowed and, significantly, a whole range of sporting and non-sporting options on which to place one's bet. Soccer betting in particular has become a major contributor to the industry, but one can also take a punt on who is going to win the next election or, more importantly to many, the next series of The X-Factor.
But the biggest revolution of all in the world of sports betting has been the advent on the online sportsbook. Here the traditional bookmakers, most of whom have also established themselves as online providers of sportsbetting services, are joined by a whole range of newcomers (at least to us) such as Bet365 and Paddy Power, as well as some awesome offshore books like Pinnacle and BetCRIS.
Prices (or "lines" as our American cousins prefer to call them) are available on all manner of sports, including soccer, cricket, rugby, tennis, golf, motor racing, US sports, athletics, trotting (I promise I am not making this up), bandy and of course innebandy.
Furthermore, it's no longer just a case of betting on which team wins. In soccer, for example, bets can be placed on the half-time result, number of goals, number of corners, number of bookings, correct score, first or last goalscorer and whether or not Roy Keane will be dispatched to the dugout.
As always new markets bring new opportunities, and the hopeful punter now finds himself wagering alongside the trader, the back/layer, the arbitrageur, the value bettor and fleeting disciples of the latest can't-lose system.
From amid the confusion there has emerged a vertiable host of middle-men offering services, some of them genuinely profitable and others less so. Arbitrage provides a regular, guaranteed profit - provided you do it right and have starting capital to wager. Systems such as the Martingale (which usually wins but can and will ruin you when it doesn't) have become common currency. Backing and Laying - using the betting exchanges such as Betfair - has become an art form which can be gratifying, or depressing, depending on just good at it you are.
At Sportsbettingcentre we present you with the options and leave the decision to you. Whatever your betting style and preference, be safe and be lucky.
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