Bookmakers Lose

Bookmakers lose and put in danger of missing profit targets amid a football season of high-scoring matches and a distinct lack of draws. Punter-friendly Premier League results have added to the pressure on betting companies following a string of unfavourable outcomes in other sports.

Sportsbooks prefer draws as punters normally back a winning scoreline. However, earnings have suffered with only eight draws in 75 top-flight football matches this season.

In a typical season, about one in four matches ends in a draw, so the start of this campaign has been a huge shock to the system.

David Hood, public relations director at William Hill, said: “2009 has been a sterling year for the punter, but we can’t forecast results, we can only manage business accordingly. It is a fallacy that the bookmakers always win, but there are some results where the punters win.”

The Manchester derby on September 20 is reported to have cost a bookmakers a total of £95m after Michael Owen scored a last-minute winning goal.

Is Bookmaker’s Bonus Really Bonus?

Almost all online bookmakers try to attract new customers with betting bonuses but punters should be really careful as these can be quite misleading at times. The first advice is to carefully read terms and conditions as only then you will understand all the requirements needed to complete before being able to withdraw the money from your account.

Almost all punters are tempted when they see a bookie offering bonus worth 100 euros but when you read terms and conditions, you will see not everything is so peachy. Wagering requirements are often very tricky as you will have to wager the deposit plus bonus amount five or six times at odds of 2.00 ore greater before making a withdrawal, which is not so easy to do.

Some bookies are giving free bets rather than matching your deposit and main thing you need to know is that when taking advantage of these free bets, you will be awarded winnings minus your stake. Therefore, our advice is to go with sign-up bonuses rather than the free bets.

Seeing how these betting bonuses work, you will be better off choosing a lower amount bonus but with favourable wagering requirements than vice versa. This is another reason why you should only trust top bookmakers as they don’t have the hidden agenda like those less reliable.

Stan James Betting Increases In September

eGaming Review reports claim that one of most trusted online bookmakers Stan James has recovered from a long four month decline and has become the third most popular bookie on odds comparison site Oddschecker during September.

Rivals, William Hill and Paddy Power, were removed from their previous third and fourth positions in the rankings.

Oddschecker’s commercial manager mentioned: “The big mover this month was Stan James, which jumped up to third place from fifth last month. A particularly strong performance on Ayr Gold Cup day plus their traditional strength on golf throughout the month was enough to edge them ahead in the race for third.”

Nevertheless, Betfair and Bet365 continue to hold top two spots in the rating. Top 5 most visited online bookmakers according to Oddschecker site are shown below.

1. Betfair
2. Bet365
3. Stan James
4. William Hill
5. Paddy Power

Bwin Sportsbook Still #1

According to eGaming Review Power 50 2009, Austrian Bwin sportsbook is still number one online gaming operator. Bwin left behind other industry’s monsters such as PartyGaming and Betfair maintaining top spot for the second year in a row. List of top 5 egaming operators is shown below.

1. Bwin
2. PartyGaming
3. Betfair
4. Bet365
5. William Hill