So following on from yesterdays tweet about bookmaker shops. I do just want to repeat that these are things I have seen or found. Wont be the case for all and for a few will still prove a decent outlet. Lots of bookies operate very differently.
One thing I want to reiterate is that if the amount being collected was over £500, I would say I was paid out there and then less than 50% of the time. The sight of the cashier emptying out the FOBT machines to pay you, was something that just didn’t sit right. Doesn’t happen now.
One problem with the shops are the inconsistencies compared to the online offering. So many markets have different prices and place terms. That makes it really tough to know what the prices and place terms are in different shops. No Oddschecker to help. There is no reason for the differences apart from fleecing the usually less educated shop punter. It really is outrageous but because it is the standard and is now normalised these companies are never called out on it. Lets take the Masters last week.
Online there were very few bookies that were not offering place terms for players to finish in the first 7 or 8 places. In the shops some had place terms for the first 5 players. An absolute rip off relative to the online offering from the same company.
The one thing that did change towards the latter times of being involved with shops was the introduction of the sports betting terminals. I am not sure what they are like now but they were a useful way of getting a few bets down without jumping through hoops and having to converse.
The big problem was that the liabilities on a sport such as golf were very low. Again you had different prices to the shops and online. Most were win only. You also have to be careful as some may even have slightly different rules. Most were run by a third party company.
Again that in itself can present opportunities though. Machines in the same shop were linked but not ones down the road. What I don’t know is what the current situation is with these machines. I am sure others on Twitter can fill in the blanks regarding sports/market coverage and what limits are like.
Ultimately, you have to look at the shops like a business and whether the value you get from them, whether it be yourself or others doing it, is worth it. With the right network, on the right sports I am sure it pays but in the end I decided other options were preferable.
ProPunting 