The Office of Sports and Bookmakers How it all started

Betting is the name of the bookmaker’s betting process. The word “bet” comes from the word “bet”—a bet. In order to be able to place bets with a bookmaker, registration is required. Choosing a bookmaker is a very important and responsible step—” whatever you name the boat, it will sail”.

For beginners, it can be quite difficult to understand the diversity of existing bookmakers on your own. This will take a lot of time and, most likely, the result will leave a lot to be desired. Professional websites that post comparative reviews of various bookmakers and online casino review https://reviews-online-casino.com/review-online-casinos/ describe their pros and cons, and provide customer reviews can be very helpful when it comes to choosing the best option for a bookmaker.

The History of Sports Betting From Ancient Greece to Blockchain

Sports betting is the most popular form of gambling. It holds 40% of the gambling market. According to the Statista portal, every two U.S. residents over the age of 18 bet on sports at least once.

In this particular project, we examine the history of the gambling industry and its evolution over the centuries: from the personal quarrels of the ancient Romans to betting shops on the blockchain.

The past

Since ancient times, people have bet against each other. In Ancient Greece, spectators bet on the outcome of the Olympics, and in ancient Rome, spectators bet on the victory of gladiators and chariots. There were no bookmakers back then: spectators bet directly.

The gaming industry originated in England two thousand years later. In 1790, William Ogden began betting on horse racing. He determined the relationship between the size of the bet and the prize money for each horse. In 1850, Leviathan Davis and Fred Swindell opened the first bookmaker. Its founders made sports predictions and handed out odds leaflets in London.

Thirty years later, bookmakers opened in the United States, France, Germany and Russia. Bookmakers back then worked on the same principles as they do today: they spotted quarrels and guaranteed payments to the winners, and in return they made a profit from the bet.

Betting, wagering and gambling have been banned or restricted by law for centuries. Governments take them very seriously.

Lex aleatoria, 3rd century BC, Rome. Think of winning a game of chance as acquiring property through a void transaction. The law only allows betting on games that are “physically developed”, such as Harpastum – the prototype of football.

Edict of Saint-Louis, 1254, France. Gambling is banned in the country and threatened with caning. Later, the legislature allowed rates up to 1 gold ecu.

Queen Anne’s Nude, 1710, England. Amortizing the debt was declared a “matter of honor” with no legal consequences.

Russian Imperial Code, 1833, Russia. Determined as invalid gambling debt.

Gambling remained illegal in Europe and the United States until the mid-20th century. Bookmakers survive due to corruption or loopholes in the law. Their clients are deprived of legal protection, and they can only rely on the honesty of the bookmakers.

In 1961, authorities in the UK, France, Germany and some US states legalized gambling. In the six months since betting was legalized in the UK, 10,000 bookmakers have opened. The work of bookmakers is now regulated: gamblers are protected by law, and bookmakers themselves “step out of the shadows”.

In Great Britain, the government legalized and regulated gambling in 1961. The legislature prohibits gambling establishments and players from taking any advantage. Matches can only be played at special clubs.

Federal Republic of Germany, 1973. The federal states have the right to open gambling establishments across the country, not just in entertainment areas.

France, 1987 The government lowered the minimum gambling age from 21 to 18 and eliminated entry fees for gambling establishments.

By 1973, there were 14,750 William Hill bookmakers in the UK. By 1982, Littlewoods had 22,000 employees. New types of bets emerged: football, boxing, golf, tennis, election results, winning games, and the return of Christ.

The gaming industry boomed in the 1990s when bookmakers began accepting online betting. By 2001, the online sports betting market exceeded $2 billion, with 8 million players.

Interesting case

Biggest win. On 2 May 1995, a Nottingham woman bet 5p on the winner of the match at odds of 3,072,887. Bookmaker Ladbrokes paid £210,000 to the winner.

Most ridiculous bet ever. Bookmaker William Hill is betting 1:140,000 that Elvis Presley will shoot down a UFO that crashes into Loch Ness and kills the local monster.

Human factor. In 2010, Clive Bryant won £7.1million by placing quick bets on the weather in 13 cities. Ladbrokes representatives, however, agreed to only pay the player £30. So the game was banned due to the weather and the cashier accidentally accepted the bet.

Truly

Due to the high number of illegal offices, the capitalization of the gaming market is unknown. According to Zion Market Research, the global gaming market was worth $104 billion in 2017, of which online gambling accounted for $45.8 billion.

In the early 2010s, gamblers started placing bets via mobile phones. In 2016, 80% of such bets were on bookmakers. H₂ Gambling Capital predicts that by 2020, 40% of gamblers will use mobile devices.

The main advantages of online betting are the wide selection of bookmakers, mobility and convenience. Players are no longer at the mercy of bookmakers, checking scoresheets or queuing to win. It takes seconds to place bets and withdraw money. Bookmakers of the last century could only dream of this.

How is betting different from gambling?

Betting is a subtype of gambling. Gambling is often called gambling, and betting is simply placing a bet.

You can bet on the outcome of any event: sports results, cryptocurrency price changes, winning the Eurovision Song Contest and Christmas weather. In recent years, online gambling companies have started using cryptocurrencies. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that the massive integration of blockchain into the work of online gaming companies. The bookmaker uses cryptocurrencies as a means of payment and does not implement decentralized technologies on the platform.

With the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, online exchanges have added support for bitcoin and ethereum payments. Players do not know where their funds are going, nor can they track bets on the blockchain. Such bookmakers only use cryptocurrencies to attract new customers, but not to take them to the next step. Integrating blockchain into gaming is a natural step in the evolution of gaming.

Future

Going online has not made the work of bookmakers more transparent. According to experts, blockchain and gaming tokenization are the future of the industry. This is due to the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and the problems faced by traditional online bookmakers. Gaming Industry Development Direction in 2020

• blockchain
• e-sports
• virtual/augmented reality

Blockchain integration in gaming platforms will eliminate delays or denials of payments to customers. The smart contract automatically transfers the prize money to the winner’s account.

Information about bets is stored in registers, and bet outcomes cannot be changed retroactively. Blockchain removes the human element and the influence of third parties on bet settlement, results display and payment to customers. Blockchain betting companies can provide players with options that traditional solutions do not have. For example, players can sell or rent out their tokens.