Play121, a fairly new U.K.-based person-to-person sports betting service, is making a splash in the online gambling business by offering a product that's based on "playing" instead of gambling.
They floated the concept in June 2000 as a free-play site and have attracted more than 100,000 bets per month since then. In September, owner/founder Simon Capreis decided to re-launch the site for real money wagering. Now, Play121 is billed as "the one stop gaming experience for sports fans and gamblers alike."
"We offer the greatest variety of bets on the Internet," said Rob Trowbridge, Play121's press representative. "I don't believe anyone else has the same number and variety of bets available as we do."
In fact, registered users can create their own wagers, set their own odds on them, and watch others have a go at it.
Nearly $100,000 is wagered on Play121 at any one time, he added. (Trowbridge wouldn't say how many registered players the site has attracted.)
Trowbridge says the site, located at www.play121.com, attracts players of all ages and varieties with a wide range of betting opportunities. This is accomplished, in part, through creative promotions, such as the one giving away a Porsche as part of a contest testing punters' soccer knowledge.
While most players are from the United Kingdom Trowbridge explained, "we intend to become a global brand."
That means they're willing to take bets from Americans, which many British betting sites avoid. Trowbridge, however, lamented the need for Americans to worry about the legal issues involved with betting on the Internet.
The Play121 concept is to give bettors a community where they can play fun games and communicate with one another as well as wager on events using real money. Punters at Play121 can access a number of features by entering new rooms on the site. For example, the "Mr. Tipster" section is home to an in-house expert who offers his opinion on both U.K. and U.S. sports betting opportunities. Or punters can head to the games room to take a shot at the "ugly bloke" contest or enter the "witty photo caption" contest. There's also a chat room where players can exchange stories and swap betting tips. And in the Live Events room, punters can bet on sports events activities as they occur.
As a person-to-person betting site, Play121 has entered the latest betting craze sweeping the Internet that eliminates the middleman bookmaker by providing punters a fun place to swap bets on a wide array of events. Despite the presence of an increasingly crowded marketplace, Trowbridge expressed confidence in Play121's chances of success. As he explained it, "competition is always useful."