betfair.com

Well my next review, is somewhat different to the one's I normally do, this review is more on a gambling theme, with a detailed review of one of the biggest online gambling sites , betfair.com. Ive been a strong and solid member of betfair for over a year now, and I would actually consider myself to be a solid pro gambler, in the sense that I have had some really big, big payouts. Hopefully this informative review, will educate people about the gabling ...
...of gabling tips, whilst also aware them of the fact that gambling is addictive and that caution should always be taken when playing with money. I was introduced to betfair, by one of my cousins, who at the time was having a decent lucky streak and had won a substantial amount. Being the jobless person I was, I figured why not register and place some small bets, and with a little bit of luck accumulate a big of profit in return, and well it just so ... more

Well my next review, is somewhat different to the one's I normally do, this review is more on a gambling theme, with a detailed review of one of the biggest online gambling sites , betfair.com. Ive been a strong and solid member of betfair for over a year now, and I would actually consider myself to be a solid pro gambler, in the sense that I have had some really big, big payouts. Hopefully this informative review, will educate people about the gabling site, how to register and how to make the most of gabling tips, whilst also aware them of the fact that gambling is addictive and that caution should always be taken when playing with money. I was introduced to betfair, by one of my cousins, who at the time was having a decent lucky streak and had won a substantial amount. Being the jobless person I was, I figured why not register and place some small bets, and with a little bit of luck accumulate a big of profit in return, and well it just so happens I did, over my year with betfair I have probably accumulated over £14,000 in profit, yes £14,000, hence why I don't see the point in working just yet, although will do some day.

History of Betfair:

Betfair was first launched in the UK in June 2000, and since this time has over a million clients and an estimated turnover of around £30 million a week. Betfair main business is primarily in the UK, however it is also licences in several other countries including the US and Australia, and this has further allowed it to generate more customers and therefore bigger potential returns. Betfair's main source of revenue includes mass advertising and commission on all winnings, this commission rate which is usually around 5% can differ with different customers, this will be explained further down. Along with betting, the site also, allows users to play live exchange games, blackjack, poker and a number of other different leisure games.

Signing Up:

If you did want to sign up, customers would have to do it through the company website, which is www.betfair.com. Once on the website, there is an option near the right hand side that says either login (entering username and password) or a "Join Now" tab which is highlighted in blue. Once you click on this it will open up a new tab, which will bring up the registration page.
Here customers must include their details such as name and address, date of birth which can verify you are over 18, and allow you to set up your username and password. Once all this is done, it will send an automatic email to your email address and by clicking you will be registered, in some cases they can refuse to register until further background checks regarding your age have been carried out, but I was 20 at the time, so I was automatically included. Once you have registered, by using your login details on the main page, you will now have the whole betfair world in one big screen.

Depositing Money:

Once logged on you can click on the my account tab located at the top left of your screen, this will open up a new tab with several options, such as looking at you profit and loss, depositing cash, withdrawing cash and so on. To deposit money, if you are a first time user you will first need to register a valid bank card, and or credit card, under the "My card details" section. Here you have the option of registering up to three cards. My opinion, always use debit cards as there is no commission on inputting money, whilst using credit card charges 2.5% of the deposited amount, which is over a £1000 can be a huge commission charge. Once you have input the card details and the computer recognises it, it will confirm these details and you can now enter a desired amount to be withdrawn into you betfair account. A quick note, it will take the bank three days to show the transactions too and from betfair, so although deposits will come up instantly, the bank will take a few days to process this transaction.

Once you have deposited the money, you have the option of 7 tabs on the homepage which are;
- Home
- Sports
- Games
- Poker
- Casino
- Forum
- Extras

Sports Tab:

Each individual tab will take you to a desired location where you can bet on different things. For instance by clicking on the sports tab, it will take you to the page where all the sports markets are shown; this will include anything from tennis, handball, and volleyball, to cricket to football. I was actually surprised that so many unheard sports can be betted on; I never even knew handball was a professional sporting event. The main page of the sports section will first show the current in play bets for today, meaning all the games that are on today and which you can bet on. It will show each individual fixture and time of game. However, the big main events of the day are located on the top left of the screen, clicking on them will take you directly to the betting page, where you can place a bet. Furthermore, down the left hand side, if a menu option, which allows you to look at any sport of major market, this includes thing s like political betting, TV betting I.e. who's going to win X factor and so on.

How to place the bet:

At the time of writing this review, Saturday, I will use the example of the Birmingham vs. Arsenal game as an example of how you can place the bets.
By clicking on the game option, it will take you to the page where you can bet on each team, with several other betting options for that game.
The main screen will show three options, Birmingham win, Arsenal win, or a draw, and the options of backing or laying. By clicking on the back button and the desired outcome i.e. a win for arsenal, you are betting with the market that arsenal will win, with today's odds of about 1.58/1. The decimal betting will be explained below, but in this instance if I put a £10 bet on them winning, id get back just over £5 plus my initial £10 bet. The £10 you betted with will not be commissioned, only the winning amount will. Ok so you can also do the same for the other team winning, or a chance of a draw.
However, we now have another option of laying. Laying is when you are betting against that outcome happening, so if arsenal are 1.58/1 of winning, the lay amount located by the yellow box will be 1.58 also. So for instance by clicking on the lay button I could place a bet that arsenal will not win, meaning only a win for the other team and a draw will mean I win my bet. Important note: you must be really good with laying markets, and should be able to cover the laying amount as it can be a very risky option, if you're a new first time user, stick to the backing market, its much easier.

On the left hand side of the screen, there are also several other betting options, such as how many goals, correct scores, yellow cards, and so on. Again I wouldn't advice new users to use this until they feel comfortable with their betting practices.

The other tabs, which include games, casino and poker, allow users to place bets on none sporting events and its more about playing with the computer, I don't really like using this option, because the I always have a notion that the house always wins, so although you may win a small return, it can easily be blown away minutes later.

Forum Tab:

The reason im talking about the forum tab, is because I found it to be such a useful tool, to get to no the betfair community, and also for sporting advice. The forum has different sections, obviously for different sports; however these sections offer useful info about who people are betting on, punters guides, and anything that could help decide who to bet on. Most of the tips, about 80% of them are genuine and have actually bought me some success, and in return I would also input some of my own advice. This is a must place to visit.

How the odds work:

Betfair operates on a decimal point basis, rather than the usual fraction the bookmakers use, i.e. 4/1 and so forth. The decimal bets include your stake in the market as well as the potential return you would get if that market were to win. If you place a bet of £10 at Decimal Odds of 4.0 and win, then your total return (including stake) is £40. In the UK this would be quoted as 3/1, returning to you winnings of £30 plus your original stake of £10.
What makes betfair even more great is that it can offer decimals that are really low, for instance if a football team is winning 2-0 with only 10 minutes to play, the odds of them winning can be 1.01, which is really low, however if and I mean a big if, if you had say £10,000 spare and decided on them winning, which is probably most likely you would get a return of £100, which isn't bad considering the odds are so low.

Examples of decimal betting odds:
10/1 in fraction would be 11.00 in decimal, including your stake and return
9/1 in fraction would be 10.00 in decimal, including your stake and return

Commission and Betfair points system:

Like most gambling sites, betfair gets more of its revenue from commission through winnings, and there is usually a set percentage for how much is deducted. Commission is calculated by multiplying your net winnings by the Market Base Rate, as shown on the Rules tab. From this we will apply a discount. The more you bet with us the greater the discount you will receive.
Example:
You have net winnings in a market of £400.
The Market Base Rate is 5%.
Your current Discount Rate is 40%.
Therefore the commission you pay is £12 (£400 x 5% x (1-40%)).
You earn 120 Betfair Points.

The more you bet with betfair, the more points you earn, and therefore your discount rate becomes bigger, meaning less commission as you gradually start betting more, with bigger amounts.

Payout:

Much like depositing money, you can withdraw the money through the same channels, however you can withdraw by different options, i.e. the initial card you used, money bookers, pay pal, and by cheque of direct bank transfer. However, you must initial put back what you took out from the initial card before moving the money elsewhere.

Layout and Design:

Although with hundred of different betting tabs, the site is structured in a nice and calm way, its very easy to navigate around the site, as the matches are broken down into different categories, i.e. cricket, soccer, tennis and so on. However, like most new users it can take a few weeks to get to no the ins and outs of the websites. The colour is blue, which obviously resembles the company design and logo.

Video Option:

In some cases markets can be viewing by online video screens, for betfair users, i.e. tennis matches, however usually you would have to make a minimum stake of £10 to view this match.

My Summary:

For me ive always been a fan of betfair, although I have had some problem with their customer service from time to time. However the site itself is easy to use, and is very secure so your bank details won't go missing. There is so much to choose and bet from, and this is why I like betfair compared to the traditional bookmakers, you can make your own odds, and have extensive detail on how the market is moving, who people think the favourites are and so forth. One point I would however make, gambling can be very addictive and people do tend to loose thousands each day, only bet what you have and never borrow from the bank or a loan company to bet on something, because you might loose. Furthermore, betting is always risky as things can always take a drastic change for the good or the bad, so be cautious, and please don't bet on markets that you don't have any knowledge about, its just careless and stupid, you may still win, but it's a safe bet that you wont always win. Finally, if you're on a hot winning streak, leave, take most of your money out, still leaving you with a small amount to play around with, I say this because you may get over carried away and loose it all with a blink of the eye. 

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