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Ways to Bet |
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Gambling is
everywhere and there are countless different ways to make your bet and
 hundreds of betting outlets. The prime
consideration is whether the people you are dealing with are honest and
financially secure. If not, forget them and find someone else. People from the
gambling or racing business often appear on television to promote the squeaky
clean image. Their message is that it is very rare to find someone crooked in
their business and if they do they are rooted out quickly. If you believe them,
hit yourself over the head with a spanner until you don't. There are however
plenty of safe ways to bet on horses and sports and other public events that
allow us to gamble with confidence. |
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| Value |
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 Value? You're asking why there is a section on
value aren't you. Well betting is just like spending your money anywhere else.
When you go to the market you look for 'value for money' and it should be the
same here. The two things are the same.
If you are a casual gambler who
just likes a punt on the Grand National, Derby and the General election, you
can think of yourself as the shopper who goes to a music store occasionally and
buys something with a good looking cover. Its pure luck if the tracks on the CD
turn out to be to your liking, in fact they are most likely going to be so-so.
There is nothing wrong with this because there is fun to be had with the
unknown, as there is with your casual bets. So long as you don't risk too much
money.
If however you are a more frequent shopper, you really don't want
your CD and DVD shelves stacked with stuff you will never take out of their
covers having paid "inflated prices" for them. You want to be discerning,
getting what you want for the right price. If you see the Video you want on
sale in Joe's Entertainment Store but you know that Mike's Videos has it
cheaper, you'll be heading to see Mike, unless he lives out of
town.
Finding the Bet
that you want
So the first point of getting value is looking to
get the bet you want. If you think Arsenal are going to beat Liverpool 3-2,
don't bet on them winning 3-1.
Finding the right price
The second and most
important point is you should way up the odds of the event you are betting on.
For instance, if you think that it is a 10-1 shot that it will snow on
Christmas Day (i.e. it will happen once in every 11 years on average), do not
bet when the only odds you can get are 8-1. On the other hand if you are
confident that you know what the odds are and they are offering you 15-1, then
jump in with as much money as won't make you cry.
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| Use an odds-checking website.. |
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| Bookmakers |
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Bookmakers are a
bread of people who live by selling something for more than it is worth. That's
an odd way of looking at it but exactly true. Their living comes from customers
having bets at lower
odds
than the real ones. See a more detailed explanation in
Bookmaking Explained.
What is a
bookmaker?
A bookmaker is any person who carries on the business of
negotiating bets.
Who can act as a bookmaker?
A person may
act as a bookmaker only if they hold a bookmaker's permit. This is issued by
the Betting Licensing Committee at the local Magistrates Court. The Committee
will need to be satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper person to hold
a permit.
Who requires a betting
office licence?
Bookmakers are allowed to operate either on a track or
in premises licensed for betting. In the latter case the bookmaker would
require a betting office licence. Only the holder of a bookmaker's permit may
hold a betting office licence. Applications are made to the Betting Licensing
Committee who will consider whether the premises are suitable and whether there
is a demand in the locality for the facilities.
What if a punter is dealt with unfairly by a
bookmaker?
There are no statutory regulations to enforce the payment of
gambling debts or to determine the validity of a particular bet. This is an
issue between the parties involved in the wager and, therefore, not a matter
where the Government wants to intervene. In the event that a punter feels that
they have been treated unfairly, they can contact the Independent Betting
Arbitration Service (IBAS) at PO Box 4011, London, E14 5BB.
 IBAS was launched in November 1998. It offers an
independent non-statutory arbitration service to settle betting disputes. The
Service is supported by the main industry trade associations. It is free of
charge to customers of bookmakers who are registered with it. Bookmakers in
this scheme have to declare their intention to assist IBAS in any
investigations and to abide by its decisions.
Most of the main Bookmaking firms have Highstreet shops (on the
wane), Telephone betting services and now Internet betting services. The shops
still charge U.K. betting levy tax at 9%. There are complicated telephone
services that enable you to bet tax free. Now the most flexible and efficient
way of betting is through the Internet. .
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| Spread Betting |
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Spread
Betting has been around for 25 years or so but the decade of the 1990s saw a
rapid growth in its popularity and turnover. Spread betting is, and always has been, a
type of Contract For Difference (CFD). This is a term used by people in the
regulatory departments (something like the SFA) to make gambling their
business. A CFD is basically a bet on the number.
- CFD example : A
quote of 1650-1700 is given for the number of runs scored by the Aussies in the
next Ashes series. You buy for £1 at 1700. They finish up scoring 2045
and you pocket the difference of 2045 and 1700 multiplied by your stake. So you
get (2045-1700)x£1 = £345.
Really you
are just betting on the numbers but the powers that be want to call it
something that they can regulate and get paid more for doing it. All the firms
that trade under the guise of Spread Betting taut the SFA badge.
Check out the Special Spread Betting
Section
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| Our advice is that just because a betting firm has a regulatory
badge, it doesn't mean its safe for you to go ploughing in. This is a volatile
business and you must take the responsibility for your bets. If you are just
beginning with Spreads then always consider what the maximum downside is, no
matter how unlikely. |
asically
a Spread Betting firm is quoting you some numbers which you can bet on. If you
think that the high number will be exceeded then bet on that. If you think the
low number will not be reached then bet on that. There will always be a gap
between the two numbers and that is the market makers spread. This creates
their profit.
ow? Well if the gambling public is split down the
middle on their views then some will bet low, some high and the rest not bother
because they thought the result would be in the middle of the spread. Thus with
people betting either side of a gap, the firm will make more from which ever
side loses than they have to pay out to the side that wins.
What is so good about Spread
Betting?
There are three really nice things that make Spreads
attractive.
- Flexibility - You can construct a market around anything
imaginable
- For or
Against - You have the option of betting on both good and bad
performances
- Money in the
bank - Most of the time you are betting on credit
So in a world
hungry for more adventure and more exotic challenges, Spread Betting is going
to be expanding for some time. And what could they do to really spice it up?
Well gamble on margin of course. It won't be long.
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| We
like the idea of Spreads. For one thing, increased choice should only increase
the chances of finding a good bet. Take care that the adventurous person in you
doesn't get carried away with all the options. |
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| Bet Exchange |
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Related Articles :
Backing
and Laying Betting Strategies on Betting Exchanges
Barclays Premier
League Betting Odds and Tips
Bookmakers and Spread Betting firms are
companies designed to take your money. If you could only find a real person who
has the same interest in betting as you do but with the opposite viewpoint,
then you could bet with them instead. There would be no tax or bookmaker's
vig.
Well now
there are services designed to do just
this, only they will be charging you between 2 and 5 percent of your winnings.
There is no commission on losing bets.
Decimal Odds
Bet
Exchanges use decimal odds for their main markets although they do now offer
traditional fractional odds should you wish to have a traditional bookmaker
style bet with the Exchange operators themselves. Decimal odds are quoted as
you would expect, e.g 3.5 instead of 5/2 in tradiional fractional
odds.
At first glance decimal odds look more complicated than fractional
odds but when you get used to them they are easier to understand as all you
have to do to find the probability, or percentage chance represented by the
decimal is to divide 1 by the decimal odds.
So decimal odds of 3.5 in
percent is 1/3.5 or 28.6%. This is equivalent to 5/2 which would be calculated
as 2/7. Another example is Evens, which represents a 50% chance and a decimal
odds of 2.00. So 1/2 equals 0.50 or 50%.
How Does It Work?
You
think of the bet you would like to make and look through a bet exchanging web
site to see if anyone has listed their intention to take such a bet on. If not
then you can list your desired bet and hope someone else looks at it and
chooses to accept it.
What to bet on
The sites usually
concentrate on Racing, Sports Betting and World Events. However you can dream
up any bet you fancy, like 'how many shows before someone wins the
£1million in "Who wants to be a millionaire"'. Each site explains how to
formulate the wording so that it is easy to read.
How to
Pay
Before taking or posting a bet, punters must deposit money with the
website. As soon as a bet is struck the amounts staked are immediately taken
from the accounts and placed in a holding account until the bet is
resolved.
How does the site make money?
Bets have a percentage
deducted in the range 2.5-5%. It depends on the site you are in and
there is also a difference in the way you are charged. For instance some take
money from the total payout (including the returned stake) and others from the
net profit.
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What's this Line Betting about?
Line Betting is allowed in
one of the bet exchange sites. It is
an even-money paid bet where you take a position either side of two possible
outcomes of the event. e.g. England runs vs. Australia may quote 225-230
(a bit like a spread), thats called the Line. Selling the Line
means you win if they score less than 225 and Buying the line
means winning if they score more than 230. This is popular in the
U.S..
Isn't that more tax than betting 0% tax with a
Bookmaker?
Bookmaker prices, even those that are advertised as tax free,
will always have the bookmakers percentage edge built into them (Bookmakers Explained). So betting tax free
with a bookmaker is still betting with a 10-20% margin built into it.
Where to find them?
Look at our
Internet Review section
Is
there anything wrong with it?
There are few exchanges and its difficult
to shop around for a better price.
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| Conclusion is that this is a very useful addition to the
betting arena and if you have time to trawl these bet exchange sites then you
may pick up a great value bet. |
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| Private |
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Many people bet with
their friends with small bets on popular sports or public events. Sometimes you
might get involved with a sweepstakes at work or with family. This is the
perfect way to enjoy a gamble and should be encouraged as a piece of
fun.
More serious gamblers will often turn to private bookmakers who
cater for the black market in gambling. On the surface of the Bookmaking world
it would seem that there are so many betting outlets that private bookmakers
have no place. Well sadly they are needed. The High Street Bookmaker really
only wants to win and win from every single person all the time if they can.
Consequently if you are a good gambler and start to have a bit of a good run
then they will ask you to take your business elsewhere. So the good gamblers
do.
You might well ask why private Bookmakers would take bets from top
class gamblers. The answer is that that is where the best information is found
and they in turn can use it make a profit from other Bookmakers. Essentially
only the 'mug-punter' loses, the others are just sharing the money
out.
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Private Bookmaking is for the serious gamblers only. If you are a person who is
betting continuously then you are in trouble, no question. Stop. Seek help.
Look to our Advice page. |
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