Over the years, sports have become significant to a lot of people. For some people, sports allow them to stay active and healthy. It also gives them a sense of belonging, inspiring them to connect with others and express themselves.

Aside from these advantages, other people value sports as it provides them entertainment, a thrilling experience, and a chance to make money. Punters also enjoy placing bets during events, apart from watching sporting matches.
In many countries today, sports betting has been regarded as an industry that continues to develop and contributes billions of dollars. However, before this upward development, wagering on sports in the past is not as ubiquitous as today.

Read More: The Do’s and Don’ts of Sports Betting

Sports Betting History

Although historians cannot fully determine the exact time when sports betting began, they know that wagering on sports has been around for thousands of years. According to historical artifacts, the ancient Greeks cemented the relationship between sports and bets amid the development of the Olympic Games. Olympic spectators placed wagers on every game – from running to chariot races, wrestling, and pankration, the ancient form of boxing. And this continued through the years.

History of Bookmaker

In the early days of sports betting, people were limited to betting on who would win a sporting event. For example, in a horse racing event, they will be wagering on the horse they think will win the race. However, this changed when Harry Ogden started bookmaking in the 1700s.

A bookmaker also called a “bookie,” is an individual or a business that offers pre-determined betting odds on sporting events. They take multiple bets from punters for several outcomes and pay them out based on the odds, provided that they win during the betting event.

Harry Ogden, known as the first bookie, spent a lot of time at Newmarket Heath horse track in Suffolk County. He studied how each horse performed during racing events and then realized that some horses were better than others, even if they were not winning all their races – consistently. With this, Ogden concluded that the horses have different chances of winning. Hence, he thought that rather than pricing all horses the same, every horse has a different price – this gives punters a chance to be tactical with their bets.

The concept of offering different betting odds on sporting events was adopted by other bookmakers and was also used on television shows and other events like political elections.

Rise of Sports Betting

Sports betting started getting interesting over the following centuries. In the early 18th century, wagering on sports became more popular as betting on horses grew in popularity. Consequently, the modern sports betting we know today takes its roots in 19th century England and the popularity of pedestrianism, a form of competitive walking.
While the practice of betting on pedestrianism declined at the end of the 19th century, other sporting disciplines like basketball, baseball, and football began to rise as betting market options for punters. Throughout the 1920s, the popularity of sports betting grew more significant, with more online sports betting Singapore markets being introduced and more types of betting odds.

The Legality of Sports Betting

The prevalence of sports wagering varied depending on the tide of politics within a government of a country. Various nations have a complex relationship with sports betting.

In Medieval times, religious leaders created laws to forbid the activity of wagering in sports. However, people made a way to participate in sports betting events – they do their sports betting underground.

In the 1190s, the Kings of England and France were the first to create laws for gambling. These were established to limit the people who could gamble and how much they could gamble.

In the late 19th century, the US, Canada, and New Zealand, among other countries, established laws to create a standard for the emerging sports betting industry. This is because some nations think that sports gambling is providing open the door to organized crime. Meanwhile, some realized that sports betting could be a way to improve tax revenues, helping raise more money to offer more services to their nation’s citizens.

The Transition of Sports Betting to Online

While bookmakers were able to continually offer their betting odds and markets to punters who visit the tracks or stadiums for sporting events, they have seen the benefits of setting up their online sports betting websites in attracting more punters to place wagers on their odds.

The first online sports betting sites were launched in the mid-1990s. But while these were equally successful, it is worth noting that their offered services and bonuses cannot be compared to the promotions and prizes provided by online bookies today.

Thanks to the advancements in technology and boosted capabilities of the internet, online bookmakers today can utilize modern software tools to create mobile sports betting applications, allowing them to attract further the attention of more punters.

Sports Betting in Singapore

Like in other countries, casino and sports gambling are tightly regulated in Singapore. The gambling-related regulations covering all aspects of gambling include the Common Houses Gambling Act (CHGA), Remote Gambling Act, Private Lotteries Act, Betting Act, and the Casino Control Act. These regulations detail what qualifies as illegal gambling activities in the country.

Furthermore, as there are stringent laws surrounding gambling, gambling activities of Singaporean punters are only legal if these are done through the two licensed domestic operators, Singapore Turf Club and Singapore Pools, and other exempted bookmakers.

Where can you start betting?

Apart from ensuring that you select a licensed bookmaker, choosing a trustworthy and reliable online casino site with an exemplary user interface is also essential. It will give bettors a much better gambling experience, which in the long run is beneficial for their gambling journey. Finding a reputable online live casino will ensure that gamblers can safely place their wagers whenever they engage in online sports betting activities.

88ProBet is the ultimate destination for everyone looking for a trustworthy website in Singapore that offers all the casino games and online sports gambling markets you know and love. If you want to start betting today, you can always visit www.88probett.com.