The history of betting odds

Every gambler knows that joyful and slightly titillating feeling you get when you contemplate possible bets on sporting events. There is a unique emptiness around your stomach at the moment you make a bet, followed by minutes or even hours of waiting, followed by the long-awaited result. Have you ever asked yourself where it all started? How the first betting shops in the world came into being, and how they evolved from there?

You have to admit, gambling and competition are in our blood. When we see two competing sides, we simply cannot remain impartial and immediately start cheering for one of the competitors. Biologists argue that excitement and competition are the simplest guarantee of species survival, and humans are not devoid of these qualities. We have simply tampered with nature’s urges by giving them the form of sports, gambling, and sweepstakes.

Any dispute presupposes two sides with opposing views and a third neutral party to help testify as to which of the disputants is right in the end. Ancient literature tells a story, dating back to the 4th century B.C., of two Chinese beggars betting on which way a wind-blown leaf would fall. Gambling led people to wager their last money, houses, children, wives, lives and even states! Let us be glad that the wild times are a thing of the past, and that England has contributed so positively to the formation of a cohort of professional bettors, bookmakers, who have moved the controversy into a peaceful direction.

Since Roman times, racetracks have been the permanent home of bookmakers. This is probably why the English nation, which gave the world the thoroughbred horse, became a worthy successor to the ancient traditions, and brought the art of betting to perfection. The British bookmakers are still the best in the world. They run a fair game, pay players their winnings legitimately and promptly, offer all possible sports and events, and are leaders in online betting.

If you think that the abundance of computer games and other virtual entertainment will gradually reduce the number of betting enthusiasts to zero, you are wrong. In his biology and nature man is a hunter. Not only the result is important to him, but also the process of playing. That is why sports betting will excite future generations just as it stirred the blood of our ancestors.