Online Sports Betting - new ideas, new opportunities

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.

Sportsbettingcentre updated

Our website Sportsbettingcentre has had another facelift, with new books added as well as a brand new page where you can Play Games Online. We now also provide a number of links to internet bingo operators, plus details of bonuses and promotions which they provide.

We want Sportsbettingcentre to grow into the ultimate online sports betting resource. If you have any ideas as to how we can improve the service we provide, please feel free to e-mail them to us at support@sportsbettingcentre.co.uk or leave a comment below.

Subscribe to Sportsbettingcentre

Sportsbettingcentre now has a free subscription service, enabling visitors to be sign up to rapid notification of promotions, bonuses and up-to-date news from scores of leading sportsbooks and casinos.

Just send your e-mail address to support@sportsbettingcentre.co.uk with "Subscribe" in the Subject Line, or fill out the form on the front page of our parent site. You can unsubscribe at any time and your details will not be disclosed to any third party.

Faster site, more blogs

We to remove many of the banners from the site this week in order to speed it up and improve user experience.

Alongside this we've introduced several more blogs, all of which will feed in to the main site.

Ideas for improving the site still further are always welcome. Please use the comments section at the foot of this post.

Sportsbettingcentre update

Sportsbettingcentre has added Maltese twin books Sunmaker and Noxwin to its sports betting portfolio, as well as some more established bookmakers such as Sportingbet, Sports Interaction, Jenningsbet and Sunderlands. A number of other books will be joining shortly.

It has also added a page on US Sports Statistics, providing up-to-date team news, reports and performance data on all the hockey, basketball, baseball and football teams.

The site is receiving more visits then ever before, and the visitors are staying around for longer as more and more features are added.

New Promotions, Games, Sportsbooks, Forum

Sportsbettingcentre will soon feature interactive games on a dedicated Bingo & Games page which is currently under construction.

Already earlier this week we introduced three new sportsbooks to our large and growing portfolio, and we now also provide a forum for site visitors which is slowly gathering interest.

Plus, we have updated our Latest News and Promotions page with two exciting promotions from Paddy Power. Please click here to catch up on all the latest news and information from one of the fastest growing UK-based sports portals on the net.

Regular updates from Sportsbettingcentre

We'll be bringing you all the updates from the fast-growing Sportsbettingcentre site as they happen. Watch this space for news of our new pages, fresh information, tips, articles and design improvements, pointing you directly to the pages where it happens for your ultimate convenience.

Please bookmark this blog, and pay us a visit regularly as you like.

If you like to gamble...

Sportsbettingcentre is a new resource for those who like to have a flutter, whether it be through betting on sports at one of the many good and reliable books available as part of the fast-growing internet sports betting industry, or the increasingly sophisticated (and competitive) world of online casinos, or indeed whether your pleasure is a game of poker.

At Sportsbettingcentre, our brief is to provide information on the many books and associated services with a view to making your gaming experience as safe, pleasurable and profitable as possible.

With more and more sportsbooks and casinos offering bonuses to tempt you in through their doors, the canny punter stands a better chance than ever of coming away with a clear profit.

Sportsbettingcentre is actively supported by most of the reputable gaming operators. Click on the links on this site and take your pick. A whole new online experience is just a click away.