Football betting - help a Blade out!

[cooperblade]

I've got an interview for my dream job (internal vacancy, newly created position) in a couple of weeks and I'm looking for help, thoughts, ideas and inspiration.

The job would entail heading up the marketing of football business for the bookmaker I work for (it's basically what I do now but that's a different story).

Judging by Ollessandro's thread, people on here are quite willing to talk about football betting at great length so I thought this forum was ideal for a research group



Ideally I'd like one of you to come up with an idea that would transform betting on football in betting shops for ever. Failing that, if you could have a look at the questions below and answer any that might be relevant to you that would be a massive help. I'm most interested in betting shops but internet and phone would also be within my remit. Any general thoughts on football betting also much appreciated.


The sort of questions I have are:

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)?

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start?

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

What would improve football betting for you?

What type of football bets do you place?


Thanks in advance for any help.

(Foxy/Linz - realise that strictly speaking this might not be the right board but thought it would give me the most responses - obviously feel free to move it)

 

[H. Metal Blade]

I occasionally bet on football. Associate Ladbrookes with football betting but William Hill have a good combo thingy (accumulator i believe)

I'd love it if bookies had slips with decimal odds on aswell as fractional.

I'll always have a flutter on a multi-league accumulator as it feels like you could strike a bit of luck and end up with 100 grand from a quid...

Ususally just bet on correct score though.

If i bet on footy it's usualy in a shop at the match on the day...but i bet on NHL, NFL and MLB online from bet365

i'd consider myself a novice at bettin....i never do horses...that shits dangerous!

 

[Blade58]

I've got an interview for my dream job (internal vacancy, newly created position) in a couple of weeks and I'm looking for help, thoughts, ideas and inspiration.

The job would entail heading up the marketing of football business for the bookmaker I work for (it's basically what I do now but that's a different story).

Judging by Ollessandro's thread, people on here are quite willing to talk about football betting at great length so I thought this forum was ideal for a research group



Ideally I'd like one of you to come up with an idea that would transform betting on football in betting shops for ever. Failing that, if you could have a look at the questions below and answer any that might be relevant to you that would be a massive help. I'm most interested in betting shops but internet and phone would also be within my remit. Any general thoughts on football betting also much appreciated.


The sort of questions I have are:

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)?

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start?

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

What would improve football betting for you?

What type of football bets do you place?


Thanks in advance for any help.

(Foxy/Linz - realise that strictly speaking this might not be the right board but thought it would give me the most responses - obviously feel free to move it)

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)?

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start?................... Always been into the horses and when football betting became popular and more accessible, is when I took up more regularly.

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?.......... Mainly internet. Because I have more choice. I have around 4-5 accounts. I scan for better value. Comfort of own home and not having to leave the house.

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?............ Fairly straightforward

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football? None in particular................. However, most of the bets placed are with Bet365. Guaranteed odds for every race are big, big plus for me (racing)!!!

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine? .....................Yes and very easily

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc.............all of those things and when somene gives me a tip!

Is betting on football a social activity for you? ...........more of a routine than a social activity

What would improve football betting for you?......................... special offers. Better value

What type of football bets do you place?............... Individual results. Accumulators. H/T F/T results and even 1st scorer


Apologies, I'm in a rush to get off to work. Will add more if I can come up with owt later.

Cheers.

 

[Micalijo]

When you say 'transform betting on football in betting shops for ever' do you really mean 'I want to come up with an idea that will hugely increase the profit of an already ugly, over-sized corporation which thrives on heaping more and more misery on people who spend money they haven't got in betting shops?'

I hope you get the job and no doubt you deserve it from what I know, but let's not kid ourselves that you are performing some kind of public service here.

In answer to some of your questions, I think the idea of a super bonus pot of some sort if you pick 10 out of 10 winners say etc is a good idea. Hilsl could cherry-pick the games where both sides are pretty even and have them in 10 sections - ie can't pick Man v Burnley etc as part of the game.

I think the betting slips are pretty easy to read and my preferred 'bookmaker' is Betfair. I think the Hills internet site is already very good.

 

[Grecian2000]

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)?

I do. I know many who don't and the Lottery Style Jackpot might be of interest to that sort of punter.
If I were a bookie I would select 12 matches and if anyone can predict all 12 then guarantee them £1m! Make it a simple coupon (like they do on Grand National day) and just have the 12 x's to select H/A/D. Obviously I would select the "impossible" matches for the week-end.

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start?

When they started to allow SINGLE bets on all matches.

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?

Internet because I can select the best odds from a range of bookies (obvious drawback being I have to have multiple accounts).
In shop if a local one has the best odds or close to best (usually mid-week when I haven't got much time).

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

Easy, but then . . . .

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

For football I tend to find SkyBet disagree with my selection of odds more than any other (I'm sure their compiler is a Pig) but also BlueSq. Tend to find WHill offer best shop odds.
I "associate" Ladbrokes with football because they have a presence in the ground (which I rarely use!).

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

No. Betting and football are entirely different entities for me. I aim to make money out of betting and never let my heart get in the way of a bet (or more importantly make a bet I shouldn't).

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

Nothing but the odds.

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

No

What would improve football betting for you?

Darren being the odds compiler and basing them on the League Table every week.

What type of football bets do you place?

Only ever Singles, nearly always HOME wins at Odds against.

For what it's worth, if I were trying to revolutionise football betting, I would be trying to bag the rights to a game every week-end to show live in store (If you ever go into a bookies on a Bank holiday everyone is betting on the televised races and not the "results only" ones) and devise speciality bets around that match. I would be after the Saturday evening game fwiw. It would also encourage casuals to stop by just to watch and might have them betting on other stuff.

 

[Darren]

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)? Because the bookies always win

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start? only ever bet on 2 games - United's games at Arsenal and Chelsea in the 06-07 season, I put £1 on United to win 1-0 with Hulse getting the goal. The odds were 100-1 plus, so I bet because I stood to win a lot of money for minimum outlay and because it was a laugh

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why? On those 2 occasions just walked into a betting shop as the idea struck me as I was passing the shop

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?no idea what a football coupon is

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football? Have no preference and don't know

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine? no

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etcmoments of quixotic madness

Is betting on football a social activity for you?no

What would improve football betting for you?an almost certain likelihood of winning

What type of football bets do you place? see above

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I guess its reflective of being a Blade, but my football betting is very much focused on keeping me interested when there is nothing to get excited about whilst we are playing. Anyone analysing my betting patterns would be able to tell where United were playing - at home and I'm attending, in a shop; away from home or I've not bothered to go, I'm sat at my PC trading positions in-play on a Betting Exchange whilst listening to the radio and monitoring Sky Sports / BBC live scores.

Football betting should definitely be social - Twitter and real-time chat (as long as it is real-time) can drive punter behaviour and increase / maintain participation.

Relevant offers - watch punter behaviour through their account and get relevant offers to them by email, SMS and through their online login. Doesn't have to be give-aways - Betfair's loyalty scheme through the Ashes encouraged punters earn bonus points to win merchandise and offers and was hugely successful. Adding an element of competition also lets regular punters pit their abilities to predict / earn against each other - we all love a bit of that.

Fixed odds style multiples are always good - it's what a Friday lunchtime pint should be for, and on the rare occasion that the £2 on 10 homes comes off, it always delivers a Saturday night to remember. Targeting this type of punter with relevant and timely news in the run up to filing their bet online or submitting their coupon is always welcome - email, RSS and SMS. Migrating the coupon only punter to single bets on a more regular basis could be achieved through chat / Twitter encouraging punters to pick out under / over-valued games.

Not sure if any of this helps you for in-store - but if you want some tips on what some of the online companies are doing and planning, drop me a PM.

 

[Robbie]

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start? Started years ago, as small accumulators in the pub. Pitting wits against mates etc

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why? Shop or internet, Internet mainly because it is very easy and you get better odds there too. Can also use my phones internet to put a bet on, although this can take a while.

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

Depends on the bookie, Ladbrokes sometimes have their odds differing on the section....

Like the home win odds first, draw odds second and away odds third, but sometimes they swap the away and draw odds around, which can be daft.

Generally they're easy though

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

Laddies mainly, because it's red and white

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

I have bets every weekend and some week night games.

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

The chance to win money

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

Can be, but more for personal pleasure

What would improve football betting for you?

no ideas, but open to new ideas

What type of football bets do you place?

Accumulators, bets in play, scoreline predictions

 

[JJ Sefton]

Ideally I'd like one of you to come up with an idea that would transform betting on football in betting shops for ever.

Put trays of drinks and snacks on goats backs and get them to wander round the shop for the aid of peckish punters.

 

[JJ Sefton]

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)?

I dont bet because Im a curse. Even if I bet on a sure thing theyd lose. I made one bet in my life and that was that Labour would win the 1997 general election. I won so can now retire with a 100% record.

 

[cooperblade]

Put trays of drinks and snacks on goats backs and get them to wander round the shop for the aid of peckish punters.

Great idea but we're slightly restricted in that all snacks have to be wrapped due to Elf and Safety - Viscount biscuits would be fine but sausage rolls are a struggle

 

[mattbianco1]

The sort of questions I have are:

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start? Few years ago, to try and win more/make watching other games more interesting.

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why? Internet, cos it's easy.

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete? I don't understand all of the things like yankee's etc. But accum's are easy to follow.

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football? Bet 365, got accounts all over but use that most

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine? Yes, weekend routine. Place the bet on the Friday or saturday morning. Usual a 5 or 6 fold.

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc friends tips. Or just weekly fixtures

Is betting on football a social activity for you? No

What would improve football betting for you? More wins

What type of football bets do you place? Acc's. Doubles. trebles. Goalscorers.

 

[Casper]

I've got an interview for my dream job (internal vacancy, newly created position) in a couple of weeks and I'm looking for help, thoughts, ideas and inspiration.

The job would entail heading up the marketing of football business for the bookmaker I work for (it's basically what I do now but that's a different story).

Judging by Ollessandro's thread, people on here are quite willing to talk about football betting at great length so I thought this forum was ideal for a research group



Ideally I'd like one of you to come up with an idea that would transform betting on football in betting shops for ever. Failing that, if you could have a look at the questions below and answer any that might be relevant to you that would be a massive help. I'm most interested in betting shops but internet and phone would also be within my remit. Any general thoughts on football betting also much appreciated.


The sort of questions I have are:

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)?

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start?

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

What would improve football betting for you?

What type of football bets do you place?


Thanks in advance for any help.

(Foxy/Linz - realise that strictly speaking this might not be the right board but thought it would give me the most responses - obviously feel free to move it)

Generally speaking i find book makers odds are terrible. A right rip off and theres no way id gamble at the prices on offer. I used to take advantage of every free bet going, then match them off on the exchanges - some really easy money to be made there! That then got me started doing 'in play' trading on betfair. It is very time consuming but there is a definite pattern to the betting \ odds movements as the game progresses. Then after a while you start to see when odds are higher\lower then they really should be. I know people take this much much further than i did and get analysis graphs etc etc, but i couldnt be arsed and just did it for a bit of fun and to pay for a couple of holidays. When i counted up all the hours though lol - i certainly 'paid' for it. I honestly havent got a clue why anybody would have a bet with a conventional bookmaker these days.

You guys are much better off targetting the pissed and addicted gamblers. Betting really is a mugs game, perhaps offer free beer in the betting shops. Hey i might even chuck 10 bob on blades to win 5-0 on Saturday if you did that.

 

[Wapping Blade]

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start?

A few years ago I got into Horse Racing, started betting on Bladesbet and extended into football

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?

Online

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

Online ones are easy

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

Use Bet365 as it was the BladesBet provider, not sure I associate any bookmaker with football though I get very annoying Coral football emails!

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

ish - tend to have horses and football bets on Saturday mornings

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

Probably easy internet access

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

Only to discuss what bets are on when at the match

What would improve football betting for you?

Special offers like you get on the horses around guaranteed SP+ but not on the bookies friend accumulators

What type of football bets do you place?

Mostly try and pick the "obvious" multi-wins depending on who's playing - Man U, Chelsea, Rangers, Celtic, Barca, Real Madrid etc and see what multiplying the short odds up gives me

 

[Darren]

Generally speaking i find book makers odds are terrible. A right rip off and theres no way id gamble at the prices on offer. I used to take advantage of every free bet going, then match them off on the exchanges - some really easy money to be made there! That then got me started doing 'in play' trading on betfair. It is very time consuming but there is a definite pattern to the betting \ odds movements as the game progresses. Then after a while you start to see when odds are higher\lower then they really should be. I know people take this much much further than i did and get analysis graphs etc etc, but i couldnt be arsed and just did it for a bit of fun and to pay for a couple of holidays. When i counted up all the hours though lol - i certainly 'paid' for it. I honestly havent got a clue why anybody would have a bet with a conventional bookmaker these days.

You guys are much better off targetting the pissed and addicted gamblers. Betting really is a mugs game, perhaps offer free beer in the betting shops. Hey i might even chuck 10 bob on blades to win 5-0 on Saturday if you did that.

I could be wrong, but I think its illegal (for obvious reasons) to serve alcoholic drinks in bookmakers.

 

[Deleted member 875]

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)?

I've bet on football for 15/16 years, when i was kid we used to watch the Grand National and my old man used to let us have a £1 bet that he would put on. Consequently i've always liked a flutter.


If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start?

As above, started when i was still at school. Used to have a little dabble here and there out of my paper round money, had a couple of small wins but it seemed quite a lot to me at the time, and i enjoyed the feeling of watching football and having something riding on what would be a meaningless match for me

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?

I do 90% of my betting on-line as i usually don't really have the time or inclination to have drive to the bookies, or go out of my way to pop in

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

They are simple to me, but i have been filling them in for years

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

My bookmaker of choice was Stanley Racing in the centre of Chapeltown for many many years, but it was bought out by William Hill and i have learned to love William Hill.

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

I usually have half an hour studying the form on a friday afternoon, saturday morning and work out the best games for my bets

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

More out of routine for me, although if the father-in-law comes round he usually puts at the races on, and sometimes i'll get the laptop out and join in the fun

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

Yes, you can compare bets and swap tips and advice

What would improve football betting for you?

More localised specials, the potential winnings on every betting slip

What type of football bets do you place?

Accumulators, Sections List, Doubles, Trebles, HT/FT, Will both teams score

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

To be honest Coops, and you'll know this better than me, betting shops seem to be less and less busy in terms of people placing bets. If you go in a shop these days, the main 'trade' is the roulette machines. 'Gamblers' tend to bet online these days as it's so much easier.

In terms of football bets, there's not a great deal that can be offered that isn't already out there. As others have said, the introduction of bets on single matches helped but you can already do 1st scorer, score at any time, correct score, score/scorer doubles etc etc so unless you give much better odds than other bookies, it's going to be difficult to attract new business which I guess would be your remit.

I've been doing football bets for years and I can't honestly think 'Oh I wish they did that' but if I do think of anything you'll be the first to know, with a contract for my commission of course

 

[davidpinder]

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)? n/a

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start? 10 years ago more fun than horses

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why? sometimes shop but mostly net, because i tend to do Accumulators and you can see payout easier.

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete? easy

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football? bet 365, bet fred. Fred is local shop and 365 just an account i set up

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine? yes and do it friday night on net

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc friends and good pay outs if i win

Is betting on football a social activity for you? yes i'd say so

What would improve football betting for you? nothing springs to mind

What type of football bets do you place? Accumulators

 

[Linz]

The sort of questions I have are:

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)?

Football's already expensive enough without throwing my money away on other things

I'd only ever bet on United if I were to place a football bet and I see too many people lose more money than they win to be tempted.

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start?

Nah... I keep an eye on the odds because of the Brokelads section of this forum. Other than that, don't bother.

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?

If I were to bet, it'd be online. It's easier to collect the winnings and you can take advantage of freebies (which I believe Foxy does fairly regularly).

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

Wouldn't know.

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

If I'm checking the odds for Brokelads, I tend to look at William Hill's. I find the site cleaner and easier to navigate than Ladbrokes.

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

Nope, but laughing at the bloke in front of me wasting a fiver at a time in Laddies is part of my routine.

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

My sports betting in a year consists of the Grand National (because it's usually on a weekend that I'm away with my family so tradition) or money on the dogs.

As for other betting, a couple of quid on the Euromillions when it's a roll-over.

I wouldn't be influenced to have a bet by the media or anything.

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

Nope. But see above for betting as a social activity.

What would improve football betting for you?

Dunno... not really tempted.

What type of football bets do you place?

Virtual ones on here... and as the bookie, we know we always win

(Foxy/Linz - realise that strictly speaking this might not be the right board but thought it would give me the most responses - obviously feel free to move it)

Nah... no worries

 

[Grecian2000]

Just from the sample you have already received I would say I would be looking to introduce In Shop bonuses (i.e. not available on-line,phone) for specialist accumulator bets.
People are after a high return for little money. These are the people to go after.

50% bounus on correct prediction of 8 games in a division.
25% bonus on finding 6 Yorkshire clubs to win away.
That sort of thing.

What about "virtual" matches on screen? It always astounds me to see people betting on virtual horse or dog races. Why not have a FIFA 2010 game played and recorded then show it in the shop and have people bet on it? How funny would that be?

 

[DazBlade88]

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?

Shop & Internet. Depends where I am.

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

Easy, I fill them out at least once a week.

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

The two I use are Ladbrokes and Bet365.com. Most associate Bet365 purely because they seem to sponsor it all.

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

Yeah, I fill out my accumulator every Saturday morning before I go to the game. It adds a bit of spice to watching the results coming in.

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

Friends can, I just like gambling so I'll stick some on regardless.

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

Yes. Usually the first topic at work on a Monday, and have a joint bet with one of the lads at work.

What would improve football betting for you?

Not being 1 game off on my accumulator every other week

What type of football bets do you place?

Pretty much anything, normally depends on what odds I see. Zokora first to be booked in the League Cup final a couple of years ago was a popular choice

 

[happyhippy]

Here you go, cooper .....

If you don't bet on football currently, why not?

I do, but very, very rarely, if the truth be told. The odds tend to be too skinny for the needy and greedy like me.

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start?

I used to have a couple of lines on the pools as a small kid, if that counts . I started because I could, it's fun, and it's good for the soul

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?

Internet, or telephone. Generally the net, as I use the online versions of the RP/ATR/Sporting Life for horse form study anyway. Often there are better offers, and it does mean that you have a choice of bookies, rather than the one who just happens to be where you are.

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

They're very easy to complete, but (saying this from having worked in printing) they are very 'busy'. How you'd get round it, I don't know.

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

I have no real preference, but I tend to use Bet£3.65 on the net, and that nice Billy Hill lets me gamble with some of his money over the phone. I don't associate any turf accountant with football.

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

Nope.

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

I'll have a bet to 'add a bit' to an event, but as a regular gambler anyway, nothing really adds any further influence to the fact that I like a flutter.

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

In the sense that we talk about betting in the pub, etc, then yes, but as I don't use any of the offices anymore, not really.

What would improve football betting for you?

A change in the overround in favour of the punter would help a bit (also addressing my point above), but there isn't a snowball's of that happening. Bonuses on accumulators could be more of an incentive.

What type of football bets do you place?

A multiple bet which I devised, maybe a HT/FT Lucky 15/31, or a decent sized single. Still not very often that I bother with football to be honest though.

 

[shorehamview]

I have had the odd bet online in the last few years, but I reckon my total outlay over the last ten years has been no more than about forty quid. I find it easy enough to spunk my money away on football-related items without giving the bookies a wedge every week too. It's bad enough giving it to the breweries, but at least you are guaranteed two things in return - a pint and then a big wee later. And when pissing my money away on beer it tastes nicer than a betting slip or a computer screen. So SF tells me anyway.

 

[moDtheGod]

post: 228414"]My bookmaker of choice was Stanley Racing in the centre of Chapeltown for many many years, but it was bought out by William Hill and i have learned to love William Hill.

Do you know Keith who works in the bakery at Morrisons in Staveley?

The pig.

 

[cooperblade]

To be honest Coops, and you'll know this better than me, betting shops seem to be less and less busy in terms of people placing bets. If you go in a shop these days, the main 'trade' is the roulette machines. 'Gamblers' tend to bet online these days as it's so much easier.

Our shops are doing OK, still account for about 80% of the company's profit.

Machines have no doubt filled what would've been a major gap though and account for not far off half of shop turnover.

Football's growing nicely though and is becoming the major focus in terms of over the counter bets.


Cheers to everyone for all the responses, I'll have a proper read through them tonight and tomorrow - much appreciated :thumbup:

 

[Keef Chedwyn]

If you don't bet on football currently, why not? What would make you start betting (e.g. free bets, football betting lessons, more simple coupons, celebrity endorsement, chance to win a lottery style jackpot etc)?

Don't know about betting lessons but it would probably be helpful to have a 'betting expert' hovering around in shops helping beginners etc. understand the different types of bets and how to roughly work out the return before they go to the til to make them feel more more confident. It can feel pretty awkward going in to a bookies when you don't really know what you're doing.

If you do bet on football, when did you start? What made you start?

Everyone's got a mate who likes a bet, I just went in the shop with him one day and started from there.

How do you bet? Shop, phone, internet? Why?

Shop. Can't beat picking up hard cash after a win.

How easy or difficult do you find football coupons to complete?

They're quite easy (apart from Ladbrokes where the columns are the wrong way round and you end up backing a draw instead of an away win).

Which bookmakers do you prefer and why? What bookmaker do you most associate with football?

Prefer Ladbrokes shops. Associate Ladbrokes and Coral with football the most, I think it's because they push it more. Hill's to me is a racing bookies (I think it's the sign?)

Does having a bet on football form part of your matchday routine? How does it fit in to that routine?

Always have a bet when there's football on whether it's going to the match or an afternoon with Gillette Soccer Saturday. It matters more when there's money on it (bet you wish you'd thought of that)

What sort of things influence you to have a bet? Friends, newspapers, TV etc

Chatting about football can influence whether I fancy having a bet or reading team news in the paper.

Is betting on football a social activity for you?

Yes, talking about my teams I've picked with other people who I know like to have a bet.

What would improve football betting for you?

Nothing really apart from winning more and perhaps learning some of the other strange betting options that I don't understand.

What type of football bets do you place?

Me and my old man, 4 teams to win, 2 teams each, £10 each. 3 wins and a draw every week without fail.