Ian Hudson - Guide to Sports Betting

Guide to Sports Betting

By Ian Hudson: www.ianhudsonsport.co.uk

2013 Ian Hudson

Ian Hudson has asserted his rights in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
www.ianhudsonsport.co.uk

Published by eBookPartnership.com

First published in eBook format in 2013

eISBN: 978-1-78301-155-1

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.

eBook Conversion by www.ebookpartnership.com

This guide to sports betting has been written by Ian Hudson. He lives on Merseyside and writes for several sports betting websites. Ian has 12 years experience in the sports betting industry in a number of roles. In the past he has written for sportinglife.com and worked for online bookmakers bwin and Expekt as an odds compiler and trader.

The intention of this book is to provide a general and comprehensive guide to sports betting. The scope of the publication is to advise new bettors and existing gamblers on how to make consistent profits betting on sport. There is particular reference to adopting the best strategies for successful trading on the sports markets.

Some part of the book is formed by collection of articles that have been written by Ian but published online elsewhere. All Ians work is unique and written in his own style. The book has been professionally proofread and all facts and historical details have been checked for accuracy.

The original articles that form part of this book can be found on the following websites:

www.punterslounge.com
www.freebettingonline.com
www.systemlays.com

The main sources of reference for this publication are as follows:

Sports Betting to Win by Steve Ward published by Harriman House Winning on Betfair for Dummies by Alex Gowar published by John Wiley & Sons

Ian is a daily subscriber to the Racing Post and much of his knowledge has been gleaned from this newspaper.

This book has been produced with the help of Kindle Direct Publishing and texteffect.co.uk, for production, proofreading and marketing.

Ian Hudson continues to work in the industry and for further guidance he can be contacted at .

Sports betting has a long history in the United Kingdom. For many decades it was strictly controlled but in recent years laws regarding gambling on sport have been relaxed. A Government Act of 1960 legalised off-course bookmaking, which led to the opening of betting offices where customers could place cash bets on horse racing and many other sports.

There is a substantial market in Britain for betting on sport. Initially horse racing was the main betting sport but now more is wagered on soccer than any other sport. It is still possible to bet on soccer matches through The Pools.

One of the main developments in betting legislation in Britain was the introduction of the National Lottery in 1993. This led to a more significant gambling culture and saw increased levels of interest in traditional sports betting through bookmakers.

Even though since the start of the 1990s there has been a massive growth in sports betting, wagering on sports has always been a popular pastime in the UK. Certain events and circumstances fostered more interest in this activity and the industry looks set to continue to grow with more events shown live on television, creating more betting opportunities.

We hope you all enjoy this book and that it helps in the battle to beat the bookies.

Please visit www.ianhudsonsport.co.uk for tips, strategies and further guidance.

There has been a massive growth in sports betting over the last 20 years. This is partly due to the emergence of online betting and more sports-orientated websites. There are now literally hundreds of online sportsbooks that provide odds for at least 30 sports.

Traditional betting in Britain in the past centred on horse racing. Most people who placed a bet in the UK up to the end of the 1990s walked into a betting office on the High Street and made a cash bet.

Betting in Britain has changed dramatically in recent years. Horse racing used to be the staple diet for most bettors but that sport now no longer accounts for the majority of bets placed by punters in Great Britain.

Another factor in the growth of sports betting is the arrival of dedicated sports channels. The satellite channel Sky bought up the rights to live Premier League soccer matches and used this sector to attract subscribers.

Sky now has four dedicated sports channels, in addition to a 24 hour sports news service and a channel dedicated to Formula 1. Eurosport is a pan-European channel that shows many hours of live sport. ESPN entered the soccer market and BT have the rights to show 38 live matches from the Premier League each year from the start of the 2013-14 season.

The satellite channels are showing much more live sport than they were even ten years ago. Betting features are now part of the coverage and for most live events some reference is made to the odds available.

Another significant development that has encouraged sports betting was the change in the law in 2007 which allowed bookmakers to advertise on television. The intervals in many events now feature adverts for the major bookmakers.

Ladbrokes and Bet365 in particular have developed distinctive television advertising campaigns. The famous London actor Ray Winstone now fronts the Bet365 campaign which encourages viewers to bet in-play. Live odds are given during the adverts which are aimed at the typical betting demographic.

The Ladbrokes campaign can be quite irritating as it features a seemingly manic Italian who tells viewers repeatedly that it is Game On. The popular Sky analyst Chris Kumara is his fall guy, and despite the irritation this campaign is clearly working for Ladbrokes.

So sports betting is a huge growth area. The number of opportunities for betting and the number of sports and markets available have all increased significantly in recent years. More and more people have moved beyond having a flutter or betting as entertainment.

A growing number of bettors are now looking to trade the sports markets with the intention of making serious money. Some have managed to create new careers for themselves as part-time and full-time professional sports traders.

The advent of betting exchanges has also helped in the growth of sports betting. The market is dominated by Betfair, the company that took the first exchange bet in 2000 and now controls 95% of the exchange sports betting market.

With the onset of the exchanges it is now possible for the regular punter to play the role of bookmaker. The business model is based on peer-to-peer betting whereby the odds are determined by back and counter lay bets.

Exchange betting works on the theory that for every person that wants to bet on an outcome to happen there is another individual who wants to bet on an outcome not to happen. Market forces determine the resulting prices which come about when many backers and layers are operating in a market.