The online revolution
Turn the clock back 20 years and it was a very different story. The average sports punter went to a bookmaker’s shop to place a sports bet or visited a casino to play card and table games. Britain’s traditional bingo halls were considered the domain of little old ladies (don’t you love stereotypes?) And scratch cards were something you purchased in a newsagent along with your daily paper. Oh, how times have changed!
Bingo at home? Poker on the bus? No sweat!
Today, bookmakers shops still exist but most sports bettors now wager online. The same is true for old school bingo halls and casinos which still exist in brick and mortar form but are hugely popular online. And they all form part of complete betting suites featuring casinos, slots, card games, bingo and scratch cards. So, if you want to play bingo at home without logging out of your sports betting account? No problem (even if you’re not a little old lady!) You don’t even have to be at home – you can play bingo games on the bus, in the park, in a cafe or on your work break and then switch straight to a poker or casino game. You can even play bingo at a sports event and then wager live on the game!
In-game betting highlights technological advances
Wagering live at a game is perhaps the best example of how far iGaming has come. Firstly, the fact that you can wager without leaving your seat is amazing in itself. Mobile betting apps, high-powered devices, and superfast data connections have given us the freedom to wager from wherever we are in the world (okay, you might not get a connection at the top of Everest or from the North Pole but it won’t be long). But the real revolution here is live in-play betting.
These live markets are constantly changing in reaction to events during the game. So, if you are watching a soccer game, you can bet on which player or team will score next or who will win the next corner. If you are watching tennis, you could wager on who will win the next game or set. The advantage is that you have genuine insight and can react to how the action might unfold. And when half-time comes, you can switch back to your bingo game.
Potential drawbacks of wagering at the game
There are a few things that might prevent people from wagering live at a game. For example, some stadium’s WiFi systems still struggle to cope with tens of thousands of people going online at once, although new 5G networks might resolve this issue. In addition, many people just want to concentrate on the game and may be worried about missing the action by spending too long engaging with their mobile devices.
