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RacingBetter News |
| Wednesday 4th February 2026 | |
The Social Side of Online Betting Keeps Growing
Horse racing has always been a social type of betting, with fans gathering at racetracks or cramming into bookmakers' shops to discuss horses, tips and odds. The rise of online gambling signals a new way of betting, so it’s interesting to see how the social aspect has been retained and, in some cases, enhanced.
The Easy Exchange of Information Online
The emergence of the classic English races in the late 18th century marked the beginning of the modern horse racing industry, but finding reliable information proved to be one of the major obstacles to placing good bets. One of the key benefits of horse betting online is that it’s now so much easier to look for information and tips that help you decide which odds offer the best value. There’s no longer any need to trawl through newspapers or rely on word-of-mouth tips from people you bump into at the bookies.
Some online betting sites let you enjoy social media feeds and chat options. These are great ways of accessing a wide range of opinions and seeing how the market is moving. You can research races around the world in this way, allowing you to quickly gain insights from locals and experts.
Collective intelligence, or the wisdom of the crowd, is another benefit of the social aspect of modern gambling. Betting exchanges and other platforms where large groups of people freely express their opinions allow you to gauge the current state of the market by seeing the most popular choices. This lets you see what people are really betting on, rather than the hype surrounding a horse.
How Bingo Is Leading the Way
While sports betting is rapidly becoming a more social experience, we need to look at another type of gambling to see how this approach has already become extremely popular. Like horse racing, bingo has always had a strong social element that has made it a firm favourite among fans looking to enjoy some company while waiting to see if their numbers appear.
The move to online bingo has seen this aspect retained. If we look at the range of bingo offers listed here, we can see that deals can be used in rooms like Ballroom Bingo, Main Stage, and Session Bingo. This means that players can look for a room that suits their style and pick up bonuses such as extra funds or free spins on slots as they play.
Choosing a bingo room can be compared to choosing an enclosure at a racetrack, with this guide to the dress code at Ascot showing how each enclosure has unique rules to tie in with the type of visitor who goes to them. We can also find chat facilities used in many online bingo games. This is an option that lets members talk to the hosts or to other players as games are carried out. It gives us an idea of how chat functions could be added to sports betting platforms, particularly as live betting is now increasingly popular.
It’s reassuring to see that the social side of betting hasn’t been lost with the move to online sites. In fact, by looking at these examples, we can see how online gambling has opened up new possibilities that should continue to shape our betting in the future.
