Betfair.com Review.

Online gambling and online betting is one of the most popular activities that people go online for. All over the world, a growing number of people - mostly recreational or professional gamblers or bettors - are looking to the internet to get their gambling fix. These people are realizing that using online gambling sites or online betting sites is not only a great alternative to going to brick and mortar casinos or betting stations. It also offers a slew of benefits that make it a very attractive option for many people. Online betting sites offer convenience because you do not need to go and prepare for a long drive just to place your bets. Secondly, you can make real time research on your bets (the sports teams you bet on or the horses that you want to put your money in) online and after you have made your decision you can immediately place your bets all without leaving your computer chair.

Because of the growing popularity of online betting sites, more and more companies are setting up and operating online betting sites. These sites offer different features and entice bettors and gamblers with a tremendous array of offers, bonuses and incentives so that they will their betting sites.

We all know though that a site that offers a million and one incentives and bonuses does not necessarily mean that it is the most effective and safest choice out there. What is still more important is usability, safety and usability. Customers must learn to distinguish the hype from the actual meat of a website.

One online betting site that has been gaining a lot of attention online is Betfair.com, a London-based online betting site that has been successfully catering to the online betting needs of bettors and gamblers all over the world.

Betfair.com is owned by and registered to The Sporting Exchange, Ltd., a limited liability company in England and Wales.

The Company was founded in August 1999 by Edward Wray and Andrew Black as way of commercializing their proprietary betting technology that they have been developing for over a year.

The said betting technology being used by betfair.com is considered as proprietary and, as such, is protected by copyright. The technology is the subject of a patent application that was recently filed with the United Kingdom Patent Office.

This is a marked advantage over other betting sites because proprietary technology is considered as more secure compared to commercial software because it is not used by other websites and other people who may be able to find exploits to the software. With proprietary software, only the developer gets to use the technology and if they decide that they are not going to share this technology then they can do so. Another advantage with proprietary technology is that any problems with the software is immediately fixed because the user is also the developer. This is quite critical for a site that actually deals with large amounts of money where security is always a major concern.

Bettingfair.com has all the requisite documents that would allow it to operate legally - another major concern especially for first time gamblers or bettors. In fact, the website has a bookmaker's permit in England and Wales.

Look and Accessibility

Betfair.com is a well structured and aesthetically pleasing website. The people who thought of the layout, the theme and the color scheme have obviously thought through the whole process of designing the website because, although there are many elements in the home page, it does not look overwhelming. There is just enough white space in between each entry to make it relaxing to the eyes and not look as if it has been crammed full of numbers and other data.

The navigation bar on the left is very intuitive and quite easy to use. Each section of the website is represented on the left and depending on what you click would reveal the subsections until you get to the specific information or subsection that you need to visit. Clicking on the previous section would then bring you back to the "mother" subsection until you get back to the general category. And since this bar was done in frames, the main part of the page on the right remains static - a very helpful feature for a website where information is in constant demand and accessed frequently.

This is in stark contrast to the website of one of its main rivals Betdaq.co.uk , which uses a garish purple color and where all of the data and information on the front page is crammed full of data and numbers. You get the feeling that everything is crammed full to brimming with that kind of design that casual bettors will likely be turned off, thinking that it is too complicated. Veteran bettors may not be deterred to use that system but it will surely make their task a lot more harder to do.

Content and mechanics

Betfair.com follows the usual dialogues and mechanics that bettors are familiar with. All of the information for betting is presented in a straightforward fashion so that clients are not confused and would not make any mistakes in using Betfair.com's services. For example, the match odds for a particular sporting event is easily accessible and the matched amounts are also prominently displayed. A great advantage of using Betfair.com is that almost all of the sporting events and even casino games can be accessed from the website, offering a "one stop shop" level of variety that avid bettors would truly appreciate.

Betfair.com also offers some wonderful aids to bettors like an odds converter and even a Betfair Play For Fun feature where bettors of all experience levels can hone their skills by playing the bettings game using "betfair dollars". This adds a level of sophistication to the website that is hard to match.

Of course not everything is a bed of roses for Betfair.com. First of all, all of these great features come at a premium. The betting site has one of the highest commission rates at 3 to 5 per cent. Contrast that with the commission rate of rival Betdaq.co.uk , that only amounts to 2 to 3 per cent.

Secondly, Betfair.com services is closed to American bettors (maybe because of the country's stricter laws against online gambling).

But despite a couple of weak points, Betfair.com is still the cream of the crop when it comes to online betting sites. Betters will not regret using their superb services.