High street betting shops used to be the obvious choice for those who wanted to make football, tennis and other sporting events more interesting. Even in the absence of a clear preference for one team or the other, a tiny bet was enough to turn the match into a highly anticipated event. Today, most punters have shifted to online bookmakers and few are still relying on land-based betting parlors for this type of gambling. Having said this, traditional betting shops are not quite dead and they are likely to be around for a while.
What keeps high street betting shops going?
Local bookmakers used to be all about convenience, with gambling operators opening shops nationwide to provide players with better access. Nowadays, when pretty much everyone has an Internet connection, it is impossible to compete with the kind of convenience offered by plush online casino websites. High street betting shops have their fair share of customers, but the demographics have changed. Many of those who frequent these betting parlors are elderly people and recreational gamblers who bet small sums on rare occasions.
Land-based betting shops don’t have better odds than their online counterparts and usually, the best case scenario is to find an equal value to what is available over the Internet. There are many gambling groups that operate both online and offline and they don’t regard their businesses as mutually exclusive. Players enjoy access to the same betting markets and odds regardless of how they choose to gamble, so they are given real freedom of choice. High street betting shops have the advantage of paying winnings instantly after the match has ended. They don’t require players to prove their identity by submitting any scanned images of certain documents and all they need is a valid ID.
High street betting shops have lost the battle with online bookies
While local betting parlors are holding on in spite of the unfavorable circumstances, the current trends are irreversible. The overwhelming majority of new punters gamble almost exclusively over the Internet, even if they regard themselves as casual players. Many of those who occasionally bet at the betting shops from their neighborhood also have an online account. Live betting is possible both over the Internet and in brick-and-mortar locations, but it is much more convenient to gamble online. As long as you have an Internet connection and a mobile device, you can bet in real-time from wherever you may roam.
One of the main reasons for why traditional betting shops are bleeding customers is the inability to keep them around with bonuses and freebies. Online bookmakers offer new players welcome bonuses and then provide them with the opportunity to claim freebies whenever they load their accounts. Deposits are made instantly and the waiting time on cash outs is much shorter than it used to be. The bottom line is that even though the high street betting shops are not going away, the future belongs to online bookmakers.
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