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 Wagering, sportsbetting or punting is the name given to the general activity of predicting sports results, while betting on the believed outcome. While for many it's just an hobby, others develop addiction and bet large sums of money regularly. Betting can be done either locally (such as the usual NCAA office playoff bets) or against a friend, but also with betting agencies. While the first usually are done with change or small values, with the
winner's) "taking all", the later are much more organized and work on odds rather than the amount of money betted. Other bets are done by guessing the outcome of a number of matches, usually over 10. The Spanish Quinella (guessing the winner) and the Portuguese (guessing the number of goals each team scores are good examples of these kind of bets, which have very high prizes for those who guess all results. The most simple bets are done between friends or patrons in a pub, usually by betting the same
amount on the predicted outcome of a match. The winner's) collect the pot, but if there are no winners, the value either carries to the next match or the punters are allowed to collect their bet. When agencies started using the Internet as a fast way to advertise and accept bets, the business increased and now most houses have their own websites where punters can risk on sometimes hundreds of events from several sports on the same day. Unlike "office" or "pub" bets, those done in an agency are done against the odds, which are calculated accordingly to a number of factors, with the less likely outcomes earning more than those more bound to happen. For instance, on most agencies, the Greece odds for the Euro 2004 were on the bottom end of the table before the
beginning of the competition (only second to Latvia) with 1/250 odds, favourites and Euro 2000 finalists France and Italy were in the top with 1/4. Anyone who betted £5 on Greece before the start of the tournament won £1250. If France or Italy had won, punters would only collect £20. On the other hand, if the bet was made after the first game (where Greece
beat Portugal 2-1), odds decreased to roughly 1/75. There is usually a mid-range bet called the Black Horse, a bet not at all unlikely with good odds. Most agencies do not take bets for friendly matches, as the result can be rigged or tampered by other means. Most sports can be subjected to betting, but Soccer, Horse racing and Boxing are the most popular in Britain.
Although most bets are done to determine the result of a game, there are bets for the winner of several competitions or goals s corers. One agency once even done a bet on David Beckham's hair style.
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