Online betting is incredibly popular but why do so many punters prefer this format over high-street betting? In this article, we’ll look at the advantages of online gambling when compared to betting in shops.
With William Hill announcing that they are closing up to 700 of their shops, the retail betting sector is coming under increased stress.
So why is online betting more popular and why are so many people staying away from high-street stores?
Benefits of online gambling
Here are just some of the benefits of online gambling:
- Access to more bookmakers
- Access to more markets
- Ease of placing bets online
- Regularly updated odds
- Depositing and withdrawing funds is easy
- No location ties
Let’s look into each of these in more detail.
Access to more bookmakers
One of the main advantages of online gambling is that you have access to hundreds of bookmakers within a few clicks. They all offer slightly different platforms meaning punters have more flexibility when it comes to online betting.
This allows you to:
- Access a large range of different promotions
- Shop for the best odds
Access a large range of different promotions
One of the great advantages of modern betting is the huge range of free bets and promotions the bookies offer. However, most of these offers are only available online meaning you won’t often find them in your local stores.
If you’re serious about making a profit with your betting strategy, it’s important you take advantage of as many bookmaker promotions and free bets as possible.
Most bookies offer their customers a free bet when they sign up.
At the time of writing this article, there is over £1200 in free bets for new customers. That’s excluding the reload promotions offered to existing customers.
All in all, the more bookmakers you sign up with, the more promotions you’ll have access to.
Shop for the best odds
Another benefit of having access to a range of bookmakers is that you can shop around for the best value odds.
If you’re looking to maximise your income from sports betting, it’s important you always take advantage of the highest odds for each market. This is a process called line shopping and it’s used by most serious bettors.
Whilst the majority of bookmakers offer similar odds on the main events, you can often find discrepancies as you look deeper.
Online bookies offer more markets
Another benefit of online betting is that you have access to more markets. This means you have far more opportunities to place your bets and make a profit.
With the competition in the gambling industry so fierce, it’s important the bookies stay on a level playing field. When one bookmaker starts offering more markets, other bookies follow suit or they lose out.
There are arguably more markets than you’ll ever need to use but that’s also a benefit for your betting. There’s always a market you can place your bets on.
So how does this compare to high-street betting stores?
High-street betting stores are limited in terms of what markets they offer.
As I’ve already mentioned, bookmakers offer hundreds of markets to their customers. Way more so than high-street bookies.
Ease of placing bets
As with most things online, digital betting websites are far easier to use than physical stores.
- Accounts easy to open
- Place a bet in a couple of seconds
Accounts easy to open
Opening a new bookmaker account couldn’t be easier these days. Simply head to your desired bookmakers website and follow the easy process of creating your account.
You’ll need to have the following before opening an account.
- Proof of address
- Your own payment method
- Be at least 18 years old
For your payment method, I recommend you use a credit or debit card as your preferred option. This is because the bookmakers sometimes restrict promotions to bettors who use certain payment types. Skrill and NETeller are ones to avoid in this regard.
Place a bet in a couple of seconds
With the advancements of technology, it’s now viable to place a bet in just a few seconds. No more walking to your local high-street store. You can load the mobile application on your phone and place your bets in under 30 seconds.
This may seem scary to some, but it allows clever bettors to take advantage of value bets very quickly.
Regularly updated odds
Due to the nature of brick and mortar stores, regular updates are not possible unless the odds are displayed on screens. Whilst some bookies offer this facility, the majority of high-street odds are printed out.
In the digital world, this is obviously not necessary and online bookies can update odds every second if they wish. This has its benefits and drawbacks.
If you’re looking to place a quick bet at a betting exchange for example and the odds suddenly change, your bet may not be accepted in time. This wouldn’t happen in a high-street store. In fact, the odds would often not represent the actual events meaning bettors could extract a lot of value.
Unfortunately, this is not as easy anymore. The bookies generally offer very similar odds across the board. This is specifically the case for larger, more popular events.
Depositing and withdrawing funds is easy
When online betting first started to take hold, punters were unsure and uneasy about financial transfers over the internet.
However, as time moved on and online payments have become safer, more people started trusting online bookmakers.
Nowadays, depositing and withdrawing from your bookmaker account is easier than ever. It’s arguably easier than paying in cash. Another added benefit is that you have a clear record of your deposits and when you made them.
With cash deposits, some bettors end up unsure of how much they wagered. Betting slips can easily be lost whereas online transactions remain around for a while.
No location ties
Long gone are the days when you’d have to walk to your nearest high street bookmaker. As I mentioned earlier, you can now place your bets in a matter of seconds thanks to mobile betting apps and websites.
This also means you’re not tied to a physical location when placing your bets. You could be watching a game live and fancy your chances with an in-play bet at half time.
Some bettors even take their betting abroad with them. Whilst this is strictly against some bookies’ terms and conditions, there are multiple ways that punters get around this. One of them is using a VPN or virtual private network.
This tool allows you to hide your physical location and tricks applications into thinking you are in the UK or wherever the bookie is licensed to operate.
Advantages of online gambling overview
So is online betting the better option when it comes to placing bets?
Yes, it sure is…
In nearly every aspect mentioned above, online betting websites are more functional and easier to use than traditional high-street betting stores.
Whilst it’s a shame to see high-street betting stores go out of business along with the loss of jobs, you’ve got to move with the times and placing bets on digital platforms is far more cost-effective and easy for both punters and bookmakers.
What do you think about the advantages of online gambling? Let me know by leaving a comment below right now.