Three or four times a week - or more if I'm feeling lucky or chasing my losses - I log on to Betfair, the biggest betting exchange in the world, and gamble. Sometimes a fiver, sometimes a tenner, sometimes more. And I'm not alone: a new survey has shown that four million Britons now use the web for betting.
So why the explosion? Well, there are several reasons. Convenience and speed are certainly factors - you can register, log in, and be frittering away your child's trust fund within minutes. Compare and contrast with the not-so-good old days, which involved not only the hassle of getting to the bookies, but also a considerable risk of contracting lung cancer once inside.
Then there's the anonymity factor. Betting still carries seedy connotations, a carry-over from the world of illegal gambling dens that existed before the 1960 Betting and Gambling Act legalised betting shops in Britain. When you're online, however, nobody can tut disapprovingly as you enter your local Ladbrokes or – more to the point - spot that obvious I've-got-a-royal-flush tick when you're on the virtual poker table.
Those two reasons alone probably explain most of online gambling's mushrooming popularity. But they aren't the whole story: for what this online revolution – an overused word yes, but in this case a valid one – has brought, more than anything else, is choice. You want to lay the favourite in the 2.20 at Folkestone to lose? No problem. Ditto becoming a poker shark, betting on the Turkish second division or speculating on the next Manchester United manager.
Rewind a decade, before the likes of Victor Chandler, Flutter.com (bought by Betfair) and Party Poker become the vanguard of this almighty and exceedingly profitable goldrush, and none of this existed. Betting tax was a whopping 9% for punters. You couldn't gamble on the outcome of a single football match unless the game was shown live. And as for becoming initiated into a poker school ... fat chance.
That's all changed now. Add to the mix the sheer electric thrill of seeing your lazy hunch or extravagant bluff come off, and is it any wonder gambling online has hone through the roof – along with the share prices of the companies involved?
Sean Ingle is editor of Guardian Unlimited Sport
