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Some of us here at GamblingSites.com have been playing sports betting for many, many years. The sports betting industry used to be very different when we started. There was no internet and therefore no websites for online betting. We had to place our bets the old-fashioned way, with traditional bookmakers.

These traditional bookmakers ultimately served the same purpose as the websites today. They took our bets (and our money) and paid us out when we won. The betting options were extremely limited compared to now. We could really only bet on mainstream sports back then, and there were not so many different types of bets.

Today we have a MANY number of betting options. There are all kinds of different stakes and all kinds of bets. We can also bet on just about any sport in the world, including professional video games.

Yes, video games are a sport. That is why it is known as eSports (for electronic sports). This is obviously different from “conventional” sports in many ways, but they also have a lot in common with them, generating a lot of betting activity. Hundreds of millions of euros are bet on professional eSports competitions every year, and the numbers are still growing. Interest in eSports betting is growing rapidly.

This particular interest comes from people who are completely new to eSports and/or betting in general. Does it look similar for you? Then you should read on This is a complete introduction to eSports betting, covering everything you need to know before you start. There is also a section on HOW to get started. We start with a quick look at how competitive video gaming has become over the years.

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) http://gamblingcommission.gov.uk will ban the use of credit cards in gambling from April 2020. This ban applies to both online gambling and physical gambling institutions, with the exception of lottery tickets sold in shops.

24 million players in the UK

“Gambling with credit cards can lead to significant financial damage. The ban is designed to minimise this risk and prevent consumers from gambling with money they don’t have,” says UKGC Director Neil McArthur. According to the Financial Times, the announcement of the ban has caused the shares of gambling operators like William Hill to fall.

According to casinovergleich.eu figures, some 24 million adults in the UK play games, 10.5 million of them on the Internet. Some 800,000 consumers use their credit cards. Of the British gamblers, UKGC estimates that 22 per cent are “problem gamblers”. These are people who are at risk of financial loss from gambling.

Self-control through “Gamstop

In addition to the ban on credit card gambling, the UK will take further measures to protect problem gamblers in 2020. At the end of March, all online gambling operators will have to participate in the so-called “Gamstop” programme, which allows customers to block their own access to their websites. “It is important that such programmes are as effective as possible. This requires other tools that can prevent payments, among other things,” says McArthur.