The Australian Betting Game
How Betting In Australia Started
There is one country on the planet that completely stops to celebrate a horse race, and that is Australia, it is the nation with the highest per-capita betting on the planet.
There’s an Australian saying that Aussies would bet on two flies crawling up a wall, they joyfully play ‘two-up’ on ANZAC day, you will often find major horse tracks packed to the rafters with dolled up punters and their partners celebrating the weekend, and there is even a page in the Australian passport depicting an outback horse race.
Sports and horse betting has been a national hobby in Australia since the early 1800s, which is practically as soon as the first fleet could get set up. The first known horse race that involved betting was held in Sydney’s Hyde Park in 1810.
From even then on most major towns in the country enjoyed horse racing and its subsequent betting, bookmakers would receive bets from punters and payout wins and collect losses, it wasn’t until 1890 that the first betting terminal was officially opened at race tracks which further increased attendance to track meets.
State of Betting Play today
Australian’s don’t only take a fancy to horse racing, they are massive fans of sports, as well as betting on them. To many Australians, the comradery, thrill and risk involved with betting on the many sports and racing events throughout the calendar year is just another feature of their attraction.
From 1964, Tab held a monopoly on betting in the country, it was initially government-owned, however, it was then floated on the ASX in 1996.
Even though the Aussie racing and sports gambling industry is no longer government-run, it is heavily regulated to ensure responsible gambling.
From 1993 onwards many overseas online betting companies were allowed to open their doors to Australians and offer their world-renown services within the billion-dollar Australian betting industry. The main online betting companies operating in Australia include Neds, Ladbrokes, Playup, BetEasy, Sportsbet, Bet365, and Bet fair with players such as Bluebet, Pointsbet, BetStar and Bookmaker taking a smaller market share.
How to bet online in Australia
There is a multitude of betting platforms and options for Australians to place a bet, a good idea is to check a review site explaining the differences between the best betting sites.
Here are some features to look for in a betting site before deciding to go with it:
– Australian licensed and trusted sites
– Offers great odds
– Has a large variety of markets to bet on
– Has bonuses or promotions
– Has an easy to use the app
For an example of such a review site that discusses these points check out Bonus Betting Sites
How to bet at the race track
RACETRACK BOOKMAKERS
If you are headed to the race track for a big day out, you’ll be able to walk right up to a bookmaker and place a bet, it’s all part of the fun, they will all have large digital odds boards showing the payouts per dollar bet for each horse of the next race at that track.
To place place a bet, you just have to tell the bookie your horse selections and the amount you want to put on it.
There are different kinds of bets, however the most common bets are for the win outright, or the “each way” bet which will give you a payout for the win or if the horse comes second or third.
If you win, just bring your ticket back to the bookie to get your payout!
TOTE OUTLETS AT THE TRACK
As well as the bookmakers, many larger tracks also enable placing bets with a Tote outlet, unlike with a bookmaker these odds are not fixed, because the odds depend on how much people are betting on each horse.
If you think the odds advertised with a bookie are high (and will thus pay out more) you should get their fixed odds for the bet. If you are not confident in selecting a horse with odds that are not good value, then Tote odds will more likely be in one’s favour.
However you generally can’t go to wrong with either if you are not a serious gambler.
According to the latest survey by Pokies.bet. Pokies are the average Australian gambler’s preferred choice of game. In 2021, it is clear that casinos in Australia were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but not as much as other industries. Casinos weren’t the only physical locations affected–race tracks, bingo halls, and bars that hosted lottery games suffered from shutdowns too. The closure of these real-world gambling establishments combined with a projected expansion of internet gaming has changed how Australians gamble: they are turning to online platforms for their pokies needs instead.
