History of Betfair Poker

The largest internet betting exchange was founded back in 2000, and had soon developed a strong following in the United Kingdom. Betfair’s History has mostly been free of controversy, and has consistently been the most trusted sports betting site in the world, even trading on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol LSE. Betfair’s healthy reputation likely steps from the fact that they are not a traditional bookmaker, Betfair simply takes a small commission, and manages a betting market where members of betfair bet against one another. In 2005 Betfair purchased the site PokerChamps.com, and soon turned it into Betfair Poker, their own network. In 2006,  after passage of the UIGEA,  Betfair was uniquely unaffected, having already stopped marketing to Americans.

Notable Events in Betfair’s History

June 2000 – Betfair is Founded in Hammersmith in West London

2003 – Betfair wins The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation

2005 – Betfair purchases PokerChamps.com, enters Poker Industry

April 2006 – Softbank purchases 23% of Betfair, for £345m, valuing betfair at  £1.5 Billion

October 22 2010 – Betfair is listed on the London Stock Echange under symbol BET, valued at £1.4 Billion

Software Review

Where Betfair shines is in their web based sports betting system. Betfair makes it easy to place bets on all types of games, including live, in play betting. Everything is easy to understand, and easy to navigate, and betfair offers a lot of documents to help new players understand how their book works. There is no equal to sportsbetting on Betfair.

Live Sports Betting on Betfair

Unfortunately Betfair leaves a bit to be desired in their poker client, which is pretty much everything their web sportsbetting client isn’t, it isn’t the worst software in the world, but it is generally slow, difficult to navigate, hard to play multiple tables, and difficult to work with most third party software.

Player Quality

Most of the poker players on betfair are sportsbetters, which is great news for poker players out there. There are tough tables on betfair, but given the annoyance of the software, a lot of grinders opt for other sites that can accomodate them better. What this leaevs is the sportsbetting fish playing a few hands of poker, and a few serious players trying to take their money, if you aren’t up for playing too many tables, or just want a few really soft ones, betfair poker is right for you.

As for the quality of the sports bettors, I imagine there is money to be made there, as its the largest site, and that means lots of sports betting fish.

Conclusion

Are there better poker clients? Yes, by a mile, Pokerstars, PartyPoker, most others are better than Betfair, that doesn’t mean you should avoid betfair, the tables are soft, and the bonuses aren’t bad. If you find yourself a sports bettor though, there is no better site, betfair is tops when it comes to sports betting.