Why do you need to go to London and visit the bookmakers?

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

The main districts of the English capital, in which the true spirit of the Kingdom is revealed.

Everyone should definitely visit London. Great Britain, its queen, the Beatles and tea at five in the evening is the most important part of world culture and civilization. But to understand the full value of Foggy Albion, it is not enough to walk through the Tower and take a picture at the house of Sherlock Holmes on Baker Street. To comprehend the true spirit of England, tourists, of course, need to go to the bookmakers. Without this, one cannot understand true Britain.

From time immemorial, gambling has been the favorite entertainment of the inhabitants of the kingdom. In the 16th century, the British loved tote on horse races, and the government was only worried that betting distracted people from military training. Therefore, the authorities issued the Law on Illegal Games of 1541, which actually never worked and meant only a ban on knocking out debts for losses in court.

Officially, betting was legalized only in 1845, and almost all bookmakers go from that order. Offices in Britain are also considered part of national history, because they exist and work for more than a century and have remained with ordinary Englishmen throughout their lives. For example, Ladbrokes was founded in 1886 and was originally an agency firm that took commission on horse races. Another popular bookmaker, William Hill, was owned by a real person named William Hill - he was in underground betting for almost 20 years, and in the 1940s he became a legal businessman. And this is all part of British history.

In 1960, the United Kingdom passed a new law on betting and gambling, and this gave a huge impetus to the entire industry - you need to create places where people can load a couple of pounds on their favorite team or some fast horse, working out their own betting strategies. These offices still exist throughout the country.

Back in 2013, the Newham area in east London was famous for the fact that only one of its streets houses 18 bookmakers. And around 80 stalls were operating throughout the borough - a real Las Vegas for everyone who wants to inject an extra adrenaline rush while watching a match. So Newham is the perfect non-pop destination, which is never taken by crowds of tourists, but without a trip there you will not get to know the true Great Britain.

It is impossible to understand a simple Englishman and not try his passion for football. Seasonal tickets to stadiums in London, Manchester or Liverpool have long been sold out, the stands are filled with thousands of people, and the rest fill up pubs with sports bars to cheer for one club in front of a giant screen with other visitors. And, of course, they place bets on these matches. According to statistics, every third Briton over 16 years old plays regularly at bookmakers at least once a week. And for him this is not a manifestation of gambling addiction or addiction, but respect for the sport and its traditions.

For the atmosphere, it's still great to get to the main street in Hounslow area near Heathrow Airport. More recently, High Street had 11 sports betting spots side by side. And the main revenue comes from FOBT - Fixed Odds Betting Terminal. These are machines that are installed in bookmakers. They allow you to select and play one or more of the preset rates and are wildly popular with locals because of this. And that, too, is transforming the working-class districts of London into a mini Nevada, where everything that happened in Las Vegas will remain in Las Vegas. Or it will end up in your pocket as a prize.

Another place of power of English bookmakers remains Croydon … Nearly 200,000 people live in a large London area 15 kilometers from the Charing Cross railway platform. And only the betting kiosks of William Hill (one of the largest companies) there are 16 - imagine how many other offices there should be.

And, surprisingly, with the increasing Internet penetration in the UK, the number of offline gambling sites is not falling. Back in March 2019, 8,320 physical betting establishments were operating across the country - if there are about 9 million people living in London (out of almost 68 million in the whole UK), then it is easy to isolate the proportion according to which there are more than 1,000 betting offices in the capital. And each of them will tell you more about the history of the United Kingdom than any textbooks, brochures, guides and tour guides combined.