The sordid underworld of internet gambling and pornography. (General Sports websites in general)

Member Name: phoebe1

Product:	General Sports websites in general
Date:	16/05/03 (304 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thrilling, Make money, Improve your sports knowledge

Disadvantages: Lose money

The first few paragraphs won't let me use capital letters for some reason. Sorry.

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Before reading this article, remember that gambling to excess can ruin lives. If you have an addictive personality then please do not read beyond this paragraph. It is very easy to run up a debt that gets out of hand, even more so on the internet. If you do need help, the website for this purpose is www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk. They also provide support for relatives of compulsive gamblers.

Gambling on the internet is a huge online business, second only to pornography. Bookies websites continue to appear as the online industry expands. I have been betting on football matches for about 4 months now. I'm not quite sure how it started, but I do remember reading an article which said that there was more money to be made from gambling than from putting your money in stocks and shares. This obviously had embedded itself deep in my subconscious so that when the banner for the free bet appeared on my screen, I was receptive.

And so it began. I chose football because despite being a Palace supporter I thought I knew a little about it! More free bets followed and I am now registered with 15 different bookies so that I can shop around for the best odds. If I was seriously sad, I could check all fifteen bookies and compare their odds every time I wanted to place a bet. However, there are several sites who will do this for you. My favourite is www.oddschecker.com, which compares the odds of 20 different sites. If you are not confident with fractions, then the website can convert the odds into decimals, although this should be unnecessary as the best odds are shown in bold. Two of these 20 sites, Betfair and Betdaq, are betting exchanges which operate in a slightly different way to an ordinary bookmakers and will take a commission of between 2 - 5 % on your winnings. The other

&l
t;
br>18 all allow you to register for free and to collect all your winnings tax free (the tax was abolished in 2001).

Another good feature of www.oddschecker.com is the glossary.
I didn't have much of a clue about the language used in betting, but now I am fully conversant with words such as steamer, accumulator, best book and lay.

Registering with all bookies is easy and free, but as I am registered with such a large number I keep records of where my money is. I deposit funds with a credit card and withdraw them to my bank account. Mastercard have recently changed their rules so that refunds can no longer be given on credit cards.

Opening a new account alone generates a fair amount of income, as each bookie generally has a special offer to entice you into joining. A good website to consult for locating the best introductory deals is www.mybetting.co.uk . Last weekend, for example, I placed a bet for ₤20 with totalbet on Monaco v Montpelier at 1 / 2 for Monaco to win. As this was one of the few bookies I didn't have an account with, I qualified for their new account holder's free ₤20 bet on top of this. Monaco won, so I made a profit of ₤10 plus ₤20 of free bets. I can't withdraw the ₤20 bonus as it can only be used for further betting. Some offers do amount to free cash though but, as with any money matters, it is always vital to read through the terms and conditions.

The most useful site I have found for information on teams I want to back is www.football365.com. This is particularly helpful in providing statistics for clubs that I am unfamiliar with. Another reason I use football 365 is because they carry live results of foreign matches. I don't restrict my bets to just UK teams. So far I have bet on German, Spanish, French and Italian teams. An unexpected bonus is that it has improved my geography immensely!

I am looking forward to betting on Scandinavi
an and
Jap

anese teams in the future when the right bet comes along.

WHICH BOOKIE IS BEST?

For betting on football there is not really that much to choose between them.
www.oddschecker.com has a useful 'compare bookies' section which gives information on such things as the minimum deposit you can make, but the best site for me will always be determined by who offers the best odds for my particular bet.

I do have my doubts about the ability of the Coral website to cope with large amounts of traffic. I placed a bet with them for Chelsea to win away at Sunderland. When a bet has been accepted a receipt number is issued on screen, which you should record. I used to be quite blasé about this, and not bother. When the Chelsea result came through I went to the site to check my winnings, but there was no record of the bet being placed. Coral asked me for my receipt number, and as I went back through my browser I found an 'error in communications' page originating from their website. My guess is that their system went into meltdown due to the huge amount of bets being placed thanks to the Grand National that day. Their customer service was unimpressive and I have given up emailing them due to their lack of response.

If you want a site that allows the smallest bet, then William Hill will allow you to place 1p. However, this is a dangerous website and should only be used by women. Unlike all the other sites which make you press the confirmation button twice, at William Hill the bet is placed after hitting the return button once. Men are too eager to push buttons of any sort! My boyfriend accidentally placed an unintentionally complicated accumulator bet on this site, when he meant to place five single bets. To make matters worse, he had inadvertently backed one of the wrong teams in this selection too!! A phone call to William Hill was unsympathetically received - to paraphrase
them, 'tough s**t'
;.

<br
>So it w
as th
at on April 26 I was rooting for Tranmere, Reading, Hartlepool, Wrexham and Leyton Orient ALL to win. Leyton Orient were at home to Rushden & Diamonds (Division 3 Champions) - this was the mistaken bet. It did make for a very thrilling afternoon though, as four of the teams were comfortably winning and Leyton Orient were gamefully holding R & D to a 0-0 draw. Then, a few minutes before full time, disaster struck when the Mansfield fans managed to get the game abandoned at Tranmere, who were ahead 2-0. And the Leyton Orient match was a draw. But I held out hope for the bet to be void. William Hill took their time over deciding. Usually most bookies get profits returned to your account within 2 hours. I went to bed that night with the bet still open. I didn't lose any sleep though because it was, mercifully, only a ₤10 stake. At 9.00am the next day I found I had ₤6.57 of my original stake returned. I still haven't a clue how the maths worked for that, but I do view it as a lucky escape.


BETTING SYSTEMS

I do have my own system which has, at present, yielded a modest monthly profit. I don't think it would be appropriate to discuss it here for two reasons:
1) I am not sure this is the correct forum for it. There are loads of betting chat rooms on the internet which are.
2) If it all goes pear-shaped, then I wouldn't want to be responsible for bringing anyone else down with me!

CONCLUSION

I love the rhythms and rituals associated with betting now. Studying which teams to pick earlier on in the week, searching for the best bets, and then seeing the bets unfold on a Saturday afternoon. Without wishing to gush too much, the feeling of winning is euphoric. I think I would continue even if I made a small loss each month, for the entertainment value.

It's not my intention to convert anyone to betting, and this review is only
meant
> to be a record of my e
xperiences. G
ambling on
football has been an enjoyable introduction to betting for me. I do still consider myself a beginner though and would welcome any comments and advice from those with more experience.

Summary: