This is not a bookie. Sure, you can still bet on sports, and other, events, but you're not playing against professional oddsmakers. Instead, betfair provide a market-making service that brings together bettors. This means that odds are typically 20% better than those of most traditional sportsbooks (you pay a 5% commission on your *net* winnings from each event to keep betfair running).

Because betfair is a market, you have a choice between taking the best currently available odds and choosing what odds you want and waiting for someone to accept them - I will be writing another whole article (or two) about the opportunities this give the clever gambler. For now, we'll just say that it's very good indeed. Another good thing is that you have the option to lay selections (basically, it's betting something will lose). This also opens up a number of profitable opportunities for the clever gambler and I will also be writing an article or two on that topic.

The Betfair site is well laid out and easy to navigate. It is easy to find the event you want and easy to find the odds. You place bets in a convenient sidebar, and it is very easy to bet and / or lay multiple selections at once. It is also easy to keep track of your open orders (and current bets) with a convenient pop up window.

Betfair also offer a huge selection of events to bet on (from American Football to Yachting, even Handball is in there) and there is usually a very good range of options within each event (like different point spreads, half/full time winners, and so on).

Deposit options to betfair are pretty limited though - Western Union (ugh), Cheque (what is this, the 1980s?), or credit card (only a 1.5% fee though, so that's not too bad). If you're in the UK or Ireland, you can depost by debit card for free. Unfortunately, a lot of banks are being anal-retentive about accepting withdrawals from betfair onto credit cards. I contacted betfair about this after my withdrawal didn't go through, and they told me that they were allowing 2 free bank transfers a month for people who couldn't take money back out onto their credit cards. Full credit to betfair support for quick response, and speaking English, and being helpful.

Overall, betfair provides more options, better odds, and a hell of a service. They are getting more and more of my gambling dollars (well, pounds, but that's another story). To top it all off, they have a poker room, which is always fun.