Online betting has revolutionised the gambling industry and prompted several new betting trends, including live in-play and cash-out betting. Naturally, for such a competitive sector, bookmakers are always looking for new ways to innovate and satisfy the demands of their customers.
One of the latest trends in online wagering is custom betting. Traditionally, bookies would publish their list of fixed odds and the customer would select one of these bets and place their wager. Some fixed-price bets could be combined into multiples but only if they were nor related or influenced by each other in any way. This, however, seems to be changing.
Meeting customer demand
In response to customer demand, bookmakers have started to offer custom betting. These can take a couple of different forms. Some custom bets are also known as requested bets. This is where a punter makes a request for a price on a certain outcome that is not listed on the betting site – usually via social media – and the bookmaker offers a custom price for this request. Other custom bets involve combining different outcomes that are not usually available as multiple bets.
Related contingencies
Historically, some multiple bets could not be combined under normal circumstances. For example, if you tried to combine a bet on Liverpool beating Barcelona 4-0 in the 2019 Champions League semi-final with a separate bet on the Reds winning the whole competition, you would not be able to. This is because the result of the first bet would influence the price of the second bet (Liverpool’s odds to win the competition shortened when they beat Barcelona) so the price of the second part of the bet would no longer be valid. This is known in the betting industry as a ‘related contingency’.
Custom betting allows you to combine two such selections – but the odds are reduced to account for the related contingency. So, you will not get the same price as you would for the two individual bets combined. This is an important factor to understand if you are going to place a custom bet.
Top bookmakers on board
Most bookies now have custom bet options, although they sometimes give them different names. With so many betting operators now operating in India, you might consider using a site such as BettingGuru.in as a place you can turn to in order to find the best online bookie that includes custom betting options suitable for your needs. Custom betting gives punters more control over their bets, and flexibility is the name of the game in the betting industry. It also allows the bookie to offer more bets and to build a margin into the custom price.
So, with this feature, you could select one bet on a player scoring the first goal in an English Premier League soccer match and another on his team winning. You could then combine these into a custom double. This would not have been possible before due to the related contingency rule.
At the moment, many custom bet features are limited to football but custom bets are a rising trend – they are expected to become available on many other sports soon.
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