The advent of the Internet was great news for the gambling industry. It opened up the pleasures of betting to a whole new demographic who wouldn't be seen dead lurking in the foggy Marlboro haze of their local bookies.
The Big Four pumped money into their web presence and sharpened their supper knives in anticipation of the influx of what is politely termed "recreational money".
"Rather like the old Jesuit maxim 'give me a boy for the first seven years and I will deliver the man' the bookmakers looked to take the child and deliver the mug"
"Give them their free bets and their bonuses" the thinking went, "Just get them through the doors and they're ours". Rather like the old Jesuit maxim "give me a boy for the first seven years and I will deliver the man" the bookmakers looked to take the child and deliver the mug, isolated from his betting peers, bathed in the blue light from his monitor as he watched another draw treble hit the bricks.
But they reckoned without the communal nature of the Internet and how punters would gravitate together, pool their knowledge and share their experiences. And soon enough, the better ones started sharing their picks. The predictions site was born and Betting Advice soon emerged as the cream of the crop.
Prediction sites come and go - it's the nature of the beast. A run of bad results, tipsters going AWOL or just plain making up their bets - punters get restless and all of a sudden the webmaster is on an indefinite sabbatical, flipping burgers on a beach in Hawaii.
Betting Advice gets around this problem by recruiting multiple tipsters from across Europe. They include a well-policed league table with number of bets, recent form, profit and yield so you can see at a glance whose long-term record stands up and who's just on a lucky run.
"if you're looking for hard-to-find expertise on the more obscure European leagues, there are few better places"
To some extent it's become a victim of its own success with several of its top tipsters going subscription. The likes of Lakini, Bona Fidea and FiDu have all started up subscription services which curtails or stops altogether their involvement with BA.
But there are young guns with equally impressive records ready to take their place: Drobek on handball, Ronnie on Romanian soccer and Amanthino on the Belgian Jupiler League are all upholding the strong tradition of shrewd, responsible tipping at BA.
It comes complete with a lively forum whose membership is pushing 12,000. They have their share of colourful characters - expect heated debates on the former Yugoslavia alongside discussion of your Asian Handicap combo. But if you're looking for hard-to-find expertise on the more obscure European leagues, there are few better places to look.
It's never been a flash site and it hasn't had a lick of paint in a long while - it's almost as if they've taken a conscious decision to let presentation take a back seat and concentrate on quality. Something which they have in abundance.
BBC
