Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The increasing popularity of sports betting

It would be hard to argue against the notion that sports betting is more popular than ever now, in the online digital era, than it has ever been before. People in the UK have always enjoyed betting on sports, and bookmakers have been part of life here since as far back as the 1920s, but the availability of such services online seems to have increased the number of people participating in this activity pretty steadily. So what is the reason for this increase in popularity?

It would seem likely that the sheer convenience of being able to bet on sports online has a fair bit to do with it – especially when it comes to the UK during the autumn and winter. Furthermore, sport itself is much more global these days – with major sporting events often screened live around the world, and available for anyone to see. With online sports betting making different betting markets freely available as well, these factors have surely increased the appeal. For those who do not have much knowledge of sports betting, old fashioned land-based bookmakers could also potentially be a slightly intimidating place – therefore being able to find tips information and place bets from home removes that issue – just like online casino sites do with casino gambling.

This is an important point to note, because casino gambling has also increased massively in popularity since the emergence of online casino sites, suggesting that both greater convenience and the removal of the intimidation factor involved in betting at the land-based versions of these establishments has played a key role in this. The fact that many online casinos also offer sports themed games may also be a contributory factor, as it is possible that some casino fans have developed an interest in betting on sports through playing these games, which you can Play here.

Friday, March 22, 2013

History of Betting

Betting is almost as old as the hills; certainly it is as old as civilisation. Evidence of betting has been found with all the ancient civilisations including Egyptian, Greek, Chinese and Roman.

Undoubtedly betting has its origins in religious rituals, the purpose of which was essentially to predict the future. The early rituals consisted of casting runes such as pebbles or sticks an interpreting the resulting pattern. In order to influence the patterns participants would ‘sacrifice’ items of value. This process organically evolved into placing bets on the outcomes, and enjoying the spoils should the required outcomes occur. This form of gambling was used to divide up food, land and artefacts; it was even used to settle disputes. Gambling became part of mythology, and it was believed that even the Gods gambled to divide up the earth and the heavens.

Some of the early gambling objects were dice and cards and many examples have been found in archaeological sites dating back 9,000 years or so.

It was not long before sports betting became very popular. It is easy to envisage the Romans betting on chariot races and the outcomes of tournaments and competitions. There is evidence of cockfighting dating back 7,000 years, and it appears to have been a very popular pastime.

Although gambling was a major pastime of the leaders of the Roman Empire, some of whom wagered huge sums of money and even lands, betting was not considered to be a suitable activity for the peasants and so it was strongly, though unsuccessfully, regulated. In fact everywhere that gambling arose there were attempts to curtail it, often with severe penalties for those who were caught doing so.

No doubt there was also a market for early bookmakers and tipsters though the latter were certainly not as reliable as modern ones such as