Directory:Betfair
Betfair is the world's largest betting exchange, offering numerous gambling products and services across the world. Betfair provides its users with a unique betting experience and was designed with the aim of giving customers back the choice and excitement taken away by so many bookmakers.
About betting with Betfair
With Betfair, you can choose whether to back a selection or lay it. When you back it, you are betting that your selection will win. You could be betting on a horse, a football team, or one of numerous other choices. When you lay it, you are doing the opposite and betting against your selection winning. If you are playing in the UK, your bets will be matched by other Betfair users. You will never know who you are betting against, since more than one individual may be matching your bet.
Although Betfair is extremely popular with sports fans, you can place bets on selections as varied as Oscar winners and Celebrity Big Brother winners.
History
The company was founded in 1999 by Andrew Black and Edward Wray, both of whom wanted to commercialise the betting technology that had been developed during the previous year. Betfair started to grow rapidly in popularity over the following years and, in 2000, the company became the exclusive betting exchange provider for the Racing Post's website. Black and Wray were rewarded for their hard work two years later when they were handed the Ernst and Young Emerging Entrepreneurs of the Year award and the following year saw the company win the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category.
In 2005, Betfair became the Official Betting Partner of the John Smith's Grand National meeting after signing a three-year deal. The company also decided to sponsor a new race at Haydock Park in November of that year. Summer 2006 saw Betfair handle a record number of bets during the football World Cup and the company became the official betting partner of the England rugby union team in 2007.
The company was handed the Queen's Award for Enterprise for the second time in April 2008, with success this time coming in the International Trade category. Later that year, Betfair registered its two millionth customer.
Upcoming events
13/03/2009 Cheltenham Gold Cup 2009
04/04/2009 Grand National
External links
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