People have been gambling for hundreds, possibly even thousands of years. Paintings from the 15th century depict dice players betting at a table, horseracing has been a national passtime in Great Britain for over three hundred years, many towns and cities now have casinos, and many of us have put some money on our favourite sports team winning a game in the hopes of lining our pockets with the winnings. For generation gamblers have placed bets in bookmakers, casinos, and now, betting web sites.

Some people argue that gambling is not as luck based as it seems. These enthusiasts will spend hours at a time examining the odds and the statistics, all the while preparing the perfect bet to place and the exact amount of money to put down that will not result in a massive loss in the event of failure, but on the other hand, will give a great return if the gamble is successful. Others will claim that betting is all down to luck – there’s no way to know which player will score the final goal, what slot-machine will pay out next, or which horse will be the first to gallop across the finishing line.

Regardless of whether one enjoys hours of careful planning and in-depth calculations, or simply choosing the equestrian with the most appealing name, one thing is certain: gambling is becoming easier to do.

Up until recently punters would be forced to leave the comfort of their homes and travel to a betting shop or casino if they wished to gamble. Over the last few years however, betting web sites have become more widespread and popular. People are concerned about these websites as some claim that they encourage gambling and can make it too easy for those suffering from a gambling addiction to throw away their life savings. Others argue that betting web sites are in fact safer than going into a brick and mortar store or casino, as many of these web sites allow users to set spending limits and once a gambler reaches that limit they can no longer use that web site until a certain amoount of time has passed.

Just like most things in life, nothing is black and white, and people will always have differing views and opinions of gambling, whether it be done in a casino, a betting shop, a stall at a stadium, or a bettign web site.