With the rise of popularity in both fight sport and wagering many people may find themselves confused, intimidated or unfamiliar with just the basics of how to get into the fight.

Online wagering is essentially still a baby compared to its founding sport wagering fathers.  It wasn’t long ago that the World Wide Web exploded into the free market opening many ventures and choices for consumers.  Sport gamblers were no exception.

Online sport books jumped right into the market and began to demonstrate a desire to take baby steps to build the trust and confidence of their players.  Along the way there have been noticeable strides and many stumbles.  None more damaging than the Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act as an unrelated add-on to the Safe Port Act F 2006 signed October 13TH, 2006 by US President George W. Bush.

The introduction of this Act has sent many of the industry’s top sport books and their MMA wagering options to remove all business with US customers.  Another huge blow was the departure of online funding methods such as Netteller and Paypal.  Online gambling was built around the ease of money transferring from the comfort of one’s home.  Credit cards also felt the pressure and began to disqualify all transactions associated with gambling.  Making a deposit became impossible.  Online poker and the TV explosion of the game was the primary culprit as many of the players were young and irresponsible.

Three main ways you can begin to wager MMA are with your local bookie, casino with a sport book and online sport books.

LOCAL:  as discussed in part 1 fight sport and gambling have been around since the beginning.  Many years later some things have changed.  Traditionally you would call your book get some lines and place a wager with a usual minimum of $50.00.  Win or lose you would collect or pay with vig on the following Monday or Tuesday.  Many locals however don’t offer MMA and if they did it most likely would only be a main event from the UFC.   The main events can come with hefty lines that could easily have some novice sport gamblers in trouble with the wager 1st pay 2nd method.

Many locals have adapted to current times and have set up online offshore books for their clients.  this method with the support of a select few online books have allowed local bookies to have a little more control over the clients with the ease of the book adjusting lines.  This is also becoming more popular due to the fact it keeps there business out of the public eye of their local authorities and really they don’t do much but collect and payout with a small fee to the book for its efforts.

CASINO’S:   long gone are the days of line-ups, runners and a bunch of old guys in dark shades leaning back in there bar stools, newspaper in hand,  smoking a thick stooge filling out there daily wager card.  With today’s portion of high-profile MMA events being held in Las Vegas casino’s the allure of physically placing a wager on a fight your about to witness is intoxicating.  The surreal effect is a pleasure in its self.  The whole endeavour is a must as it creates a buzz around the lobbies and bar’s and garners a sense of achievement despite the final result.   

Casino sport books are hard to come by as most cities don’t have them.   For the cities that do the wager options are limited.  The casino books are just unable to compete in today’s market.     
 
A few years have passed since I’ve been to a Las Vegas sport book.  Truthfully I miss the fun and history of it but as a sports investor I have to seek other efficient means of generating income.

ONLINE:  with well over 300 online sport books your 1st and only step is research.  There is no reason why a future player cannot take the time to investigate where they will ultimately trust a sport book with their money.  No player should be down before there 1st wager.  With that being said all potential players need to realize that only a dozen or so are worthy of your business.

A great start is websites just like this one.  Daily news, information and top MMA insiders ready to answer all your questions based on experience and knowledge is an exceptional tool.  Also look for the recommended websites.  Many of the reference sites offer a variety of information.

Another direction is to check out a live MMA odds site such as www.bestfightodds.com.  Websites such as this one are essential to focus in on the most activate sites that offer MMA wager opportunities.   After familiarizing yourself with each site you can move on to www.sportsbookreview.com.   Sportsbookreview has been an effective 3rd party authority for nearly a decade accumulating information, tracking cases, writing and reviewing every sport book on the open market.  They provide valuable information on sites you may be considering and have many supporting tools to help the novice become more creditable and safe.

Deciding on a sport book should take a serious effort.  That’s the hard part and now you are ready to fund an account.  I mentioned prior that funding an account has become a pain.  Some good news is as the sport book world lost some affiliates they have rebounded with many new payment processing options.  There are plenty new products to choose from and once again you need to read and research.  Also if you decided on a solid book then feel free to use the customer service department to help figure out what is your best option based on your needs.

I’m happy to say that many credit card companies have decided to allow deposits again making things extremely easy and convenient.  The introduction of the debit card and prepaid cards are extremely popular and fast.  The downfall is that some of these cards and credit card providers will not allow you to be paid out via credit.  Most online books will pay you out by cheque or money order.  This does however take more time.

Another option is Western Union.   A long forgotten method of deposit saw a comeback after Netteller became non-existing to gamblers.  Western Union works differently for each online book so it’s vital to read and in most cases you will have to talk to someone for detailed instructions.  Western Union can be a little scary.  There a lot of forms, all different kind of colours and 3rd party runners that come off very suspicious.  Another option is a money gram.  This particular method is extremely fast but comes with an abundant of security measures.   Sending funds through Western Union comes at a price.  Fees are involved however almost all reputable books will absorb the costs.   

Online sport books are all fighting for our business.  Basic free market enterprise allows us to benefit on sign-up bonuses ranging from 5% to 50% on an introductory deposit.   Reload options, player rewards and rebates.   The competition also provides many MMA wagering choices that casinos and locals could never provide.  Combine the rebounding payment process, stronger financial security and efficient customer support there’s a stronger case for the health of online gambling.

Not all books are perfect.  Many have some elements figured out but still lack in areas such as speedy support response, slow payouts and limited wager choices.  The bonus structures are confusing and have in most cases very high rollover before you may withdrawal your money.  Many players feel cheated when they cannot access their funds they thought were there’s.

In some very remote cases players can even be blacklisted from sport books.  Many books share information that allows them to red flag players for all sort of conduct.  Most common are bonus abuse, multiply accounts and users per household, using other people’s credit cards and disputing or threatening to dispute. 

Some darker areas and main concerns for players are there personal information and security.  Money fraud and identity theft are legitimate concerns.   Players once again need to ensure their money and data our safe by researching and finding the best online books.

The debate on the pro’s and cons of online wagering will be around for a very long-time.  With all the recent concerns and efforts of congress to eliminate both MMA and online wagering you and I should be concerned.  No one really knows the future of internet gambling but as an online user and sport investor I can say the variety of options I have to research and make money has allowed me to get into the fight and maximize the complete experience of these two worlds.

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