Why are there thousands of bookmakers in the United States and stacks of offshore Sportsbooks all fighting to offer their services to the guy who likes a wager? Answer: because being a bookmaker is, more or less, a license to print money. But now it's time for the small guy to fight back. Now, thanks to the power of the internet, he can be the bookie.
The introduction of exchange betting, thru TradeSports, is nothing short of a revolution in wagering. It offers the ordinary bettor something he has never had before - the ability to make a wager and also bet against the same thing happening.
That's the first piece of good news. There's more. The greatest thing of all about TradeSports is that it offers better odds than a bookie
If you like, for example, Miami against Chicago in football, you will find your fellow bettors around the country (maybe in the Windy city!) prepared to give you a bigger price for the Dolphins than a bookmaker might offer you. Your fellow bettors will do this because they disagree with you and are inviting other bettors, i.e. you, to take them on by offering tempting prices. When you think a team won't win you can do likewise, and lay it to other bettors (basically you are betting against something happening).
TradeSports, of course, is not a bookmaker. It merely facilitates the betting that goes on between its customers and takes a modest commission. So what about this new betting interface - how does it work?
It really couldn't be easier.
You go to the TradeSports web site and take a few minutes to open an account. Then take a look at the huge range of TradeSports to wager on (everything from tonight's game to the amount of snow falling in Central Park).
Click on any bet and you'll see a bunch of numbers, some in blue and some in pink. The left side of the screen (pink) is for bettors who want to bet against the proposition. The right side (blue) is for those who want to bet on it.
Everything you need to make a wager is there. The best odds are towards the centre of the screen, with the next best stacked up behind them.
You have the option to see these odds in various formats - moneyline, digital, fractions, 0-100, whatever you are familiar with. You can see how much money is being offered at each price. To scoop up every dollar of the wager, click the dollar figure. To take a smaller piece of the action, click the odds figure and - hey presto - you will see an online betting slip.
You use a simple wheel to fix the amount of money you want to risk and the odds you are prepared to wager at. Click the BET FOR or BET AGAINST buttons when you are happy and that's it - you hear a kerchiiing! and you have made your wager.
If you don't like the odds that are on offer, simply place an order at juicier odds. If you are realistic there's a great chance another exchange member will come along and give you the bet you want. Alternatively, you can turn bookmaker and offer odds against. If your odds are the best, your bet goes automatically to the top of the queue.
The sheer dynamics of exchange wagering work in everyone's favour. It's just a case of cutting out the middle man. And with the sensational technology on TradeSports, you can keep betting right throughout a game
The betting screen on TradeSports will change the way you look at sports wagering. The era of the exchange is here. And it's looking exciting.
The exchange revolution has already happened in Britain. Bookies are crying foul. It's hurting their profit margins.
Do we sympathise? We do not.
When bookies start crying into their beer, it's time for the rest of us to crack open the champagne.
Article by Alan English. TradeSports is a person-to-person (P2P) sports betting and trading exchange.
