Wednesday, December 06, 2006

There's no denying it, punters in the UK love to have a flutter. That
explains why there are more than 8,000 bookmaking outlets huddling among
Britain's clothes shops and restaurants. But you don't even have to leave
the comfort of your own home to place a bet these days. The online world is
quickly catching up with its high-street opposition. In 2005 and 2006,
according to estimates from MarketResearch.com, the online gambling business
flowered, with an estimated 2,300 gambling sites on the internet today. The
internet may offer more opportunities to bet but that is no reason to throw
caution to the wind. As the UK charity GamCare puts it: "Gambling can be
great fun, but it's also important to know when to stop and what the danger
signs are." With an estimated £1bn wagered on this summer's FIFA World Cup
alone it is big business, and there're a lot of gamblers who won't be seeing
the money from their bets again. So let's be clear from the start: gambling
is not an investment. If you can't afford to lose it, don't bet with it. The
gambling world may only have been pulling in internet punters for the past
10 years, but the ability to lose your shirt on the web now comes in many
different flavours. Imagine any kind of gambling you can do in the real
world and you can usually find the equivalent game of chance online. Whether
it's the football Pools, horse racing, the dog track, lotteries, dice,
bingo, roulette, blackjack, slot machines, backgammon or poker, someone is
always willing to take your money. Whether you get it back or not depends on
your luck. Perhaps the easiest way to gamble online is by visiting one of
the online bookmakers. These tend to offer the same service you could expect
if you walked into any William Hill, Victor Chandler, Paddy Power or
Ladbrokes betting shop. As with the vast majority of sites, you sign up with
a debit or credit card, which is used to transfer money to a gambling fund.
And if your luck's in, winnings will be paid into the same account. Bets can
be placed on everything from Premiership football to golf by clicking the
checkboxes, in much the same way you would use a pencil on a form in the
real shop.

Of course, if you subscribe to the belief that in the long run you can never
beat the bookie, there are even ways around that. With sites such as Betfair
you can bet as normal and try and beat odds set by someone else, or you can
become the bookmaker and set odds for other people.

This second option is known as 'laying' the bet. For example, you could
decide Chelsea won't win the Premiership come May 2007 and 'lay' them at
odds of two to one. If someone bet £100 on Chelsea winning the league, you
would owe them £200 if Jose Mourinho's men lift the trophy. But you would
get to keep that £100 if the Blues don't retain the title.