The internet is a place where a smorgasbord of things can be found quickly and easily. From household goods to the latest gadgets trends, and now, in the last few years, even your neighbourhood bookie can be found there. According to estimates, as much as 60% of the illegal betting trade is now online, and the reason why is easy to see.
From the shady streets and night clubs, illegal bookies have moved their business online, to sites like Facebook and Twitter, where they don’t need to take as much risk in getting their cover blown and getting caught. Some even set up their own websites. These bets can then be easier to track. As every bet is made available online over a private message. The bets can then be easily recorded and totalled. It’s very easy and doesn’t need to much to maintain. All you need is a phone or a computer and a good, reliable internet access.
Despite its illegality, it has still managed to attract numerous bettors, simply because of the sheer convenience. Betting is accessible and organised. Bookies don’t need to keep numerous ledgers to see who he owes money and who owes him money. Everything is there easily viewed with a click of a button. Becoming a bookie has never been easier.
And while there are many legitimate gambling sites available on the internet, these illegal bookies still get their share of the market because of their tangibility. Gambling expert Steve Budin once told The Times, “There is always going to be a huge market for local bookmakers because they are the ones who let players bet with credit, with money they don’t have to produce.
“People don’t want to give out their credit cards or send money offshore someplace. They like dealing with real people and real cash. These sites just make it a whole lot easier for the bookies serving them,” Budin added.
The offer of something real – betting, and thus winning, real money – instead of just using bank accounts and credit cards, with winning automatically handed as cash, is the main allure of this set up. And while many may think that such a notion is weird, it’s still very real.
“[My bookie] paid me in an interoffice envelope,” said one gambler, who preferred this kind of set up of developing a trust with his local bookie over obscure online betting apps and sites.
Cracking down on these illegal rackets can be quite difficult. Tracing the bettors and the bookies is already a tall order. Much less how to catch them once they are found. The government is trying to tighten the laws on how these gambling operations. There is already a new law in the course of being implemented. But nothing concrete is yet to be ratified.
Until then, these illegal neighbourhood bookies will still be on the loose, rampantly running on the internet as the bookies rake in the though. It will be hard to shake them off, simply because of the trust they have developed over the years with their clients. Of course, more and more legitimate online betting sites have risen over the years, trying to offer that same trust and rapport with prospective clients. But until laws can be set up to deal with illegal bookies, their business will just keep running and running.