For those of you who enjoy a punt, there are only really three or four bookmakers or 'bookies'…read more(known to our U.S. friends as an OTB shop - Off-Track Betting) which dominate the market in Belfast - Paddy Power, Ladbroke's, and Sean Graham's. There are a few others, but these are the main ones. The thing about this bookies, apart from the fact that it's clean, well-laid out, and carpeted, is that they have a special offer on a specific bet - the Lucky 15 (which is a hugely popular bet) has a 20% bonus in this shop. I won't bore non-gamblers with the intricate details of this bet, but for those of you visiting Belfast who enjoy a bet (as you will soon learn to do if you're going to be in pubs in Belfast at the weekend, all of which will be showing racing and football), you simply pick four selections of horses, soccer teams, etc., and choose your stake. 15 is the number of permutations of bets from four selections (four singles, six doubles, four trebles, and a quad). If you're lucky enough to get all four up, this Paddy Power shop will give you a 20% bonus, which is an excellent incentive to bet there, as opposed to Ladbroke's (see my review).

Ladbrokes On queens parade was previously Eastwoods bookmakers and this outlet has been a bookies…read morefor years and years. It used to be owned by the infamous Barney Eastwood until Ladbrokes bought it over. I think it is funny how they didn't change the location as if scared to mess with the gamblers natural habitat. This bookies is unlike any other bookies really, it is bright and airy and by contrast you can easily keep track of time. I pooped in the other Saturday on my way to a football match and put a cheeky pound on an accumulator and the experience was very pleasant. The slips were right at the door and thankfully I did not have to use a recycled chewed up pen. There are no gaming machines in this bookies and this might explain why there is no real loitering. The punters are in and out with no fuss at all. The girls at the checkout were particularly cheery maybe it was because they had got there Vitamin D from the Sun that day and they were enjoying the sea breeze.

If you're in Belfast city centre and you're a bit fed up tagging along and carrying bags for the…read moremissus while she shops, and you enjoy the occasional bet, this could be a nice place for you to pass the time (assuming that, for some reason, you can't pass the time in a nearby hostelry). This bookies is spacious and comfortable. It probably has the most screens of any bookies I've been in, ensuring you miss none of the horse-racing or greyhound racing. Screen after screen lists odds, results, special bets, and shows the racing. There's also a good bit of seating in here, with benches and chairs throughout the shop, and no shortage of newspapers for you to make your selections. This bookies is always busy, being positioned in a place where people going into, and leaving, the city centre can easily access it. There's many a punter in here just killing time until they get summonsed to go to meet the missus and carry the bags of shopping that've been accumulated.

This is one of the most spacious bookies I've been in. It has plenty of seating and plenty of…read morescreens with odds of horse-racing, football (that's soccer, although you can bet on American Football in bookies here too), and various other sporting events. It also has plenty of comfortable seating and tables with newspapers for you to peruse the race-cards and write your bets out. The difference in betting shops since the smoking ban in here is amazing, although there was something very 'old-style movie' when doing a bet and watching the racing through a cloud of rising smoke. Of course, the bookies also benefited a few years back with the abolition of betting tax (originally 10% of your bet, then 9%, then wiped out altogether after the national lottery was in full swing). This bookies used to be owned by McCartan's bookmakers, which was a very small string of bookies, but Ladbroke's bought them over when they bought over Eastwood's, which was a well-established local bookies with a lot of shops. Unfortunately, Ladbroke's don't always feel the need to compete with other bookies, and the fact that they currently don't give a 20% bonus in the unlikely event of your Lucky 15 coming up means that you may as well go to the Paddy Power bookies which is a two-minute walk away (see my review).

As some what of a fan of the odd flutter on a bit of the Champions League, especially when my…read morebeloved AC Milan are involved. I have found cause to call into the odd bookmakers in my time to stick on a bet. I have had to call in here a couple of times and found it to be a pretty nice wee bookies. Essentially what you are looking for when you go to a bookies is the staff to be helpful, polite, not to intimidate you and to give you a hand if you are a novice or a first timer. You definitely get all these things here. The guys in here are sound and will help you fill in your accumulators if you need it and it doesn't have the same old dodgy feel of some of the more old school bookies. Well worth popping in if you fancy a flutter, but that being said, most people will probably just bet online nowadays.

I am not a massive gambler, but I do like a flutter from time to time, especially a Saturday…read morespecial football accumulator. When I do place a bet I usually come to this bookies, it is really well laid out and simple, the betting sheets are readily available and the generally have the list of matches available. This is a great place to hang around horse racing experts and copy their bets, I have done this on a few occasions and it has paid off. If you are not sure what an expert will look like I will give you a brief description; Male- Gambling is generally a male dominated sport. Over 40-Being an expert is all about experience. Glasses- Poor eyesight from squinting at the horse racing small print. Rolled up newspaper in pocket- Usually the racing post. Nicotine stained teeth- lets face it gambling is pretty stressful, so he will need the odd cigarette. But you must remember using this technique of gambling is hazardous, gamblers don't like when you get to close and they are sometimes wrong in their predictions. Overall William Hill is excellent for a little flutter, the girls who work there are really helpful and will be sure to give you the best odds available and even a cheeky little tip.

William Hill is located on Skipper Street which is a weird place for a bookmakers. Plonked next to…read moreone of Belfast's best pubs, The Spaniard and opposite the opulent Merchant Hotel it feels out of place. But I suppose there must be market for it. I don't often have a flutter but when I do it's usually ridiculously outrageous to the point where if it came off I'd be Yelping from Barbados. But today I was passing this William Hill and I thought, you know what my ginger pasty skin could do with some red/pink in it so I went in to William Hill and placed a cheeky 50p! This William Hill seems to have it all, plasma screen TV's on the wall, betting slips for every football match and a seating area located opposite the TV's. Almost as plush as it's neighbour, The Merchant. Seems to have everything a bookmaker needs as well as a few extras. Worth popping in here if you want a flutter and are in the City Centre.

I'd definitely say I am not a regular bingo goer or even a massive bingo fan but I had a quality…read morenight In the Oasis last week. It was Saturday evening, we had no plans for the first time in ages but I was itching to get out of the house. For a laugh I suggested bingo. 'Ha ha ha no chance' came the retort. By 7pm I'd worked my womanly charms, collected his mammy for guidance and off we went. We were seated and ready for the big game, the place was heaving with quite a mixture of ages and there were a healthy handful of men. Anyway after lines, double lines and full houses we had absolutely no checks and I was starting to wonder what more the Oasis had to offer. After re-fueling on free tea and coffee we went downstairs to the casino where, to my absolute delight, they have computerized roulette! There were also free sandwiches, biscuits and at 12 midnight a large shipment of pizzas arrived from Dominoes - you gotta be fast to grab a slice though. Anyway, we left at about 1am after partaking in roulette, bingo and the slot machines - it was a great evenings craic and we were up £45.00 on the whole evening!! Not bad work! I love this place, they treat their customers well and the staff are friendly and fun. Now, if they had a bar they would make a real killing!

Bizarrely, quite a few of my friends worked here while I was at school so I would call in every so…read moreoften and they would let me play bingo for free. This went on for quite some time until they got caught giving away free games and so the free games of bingo justifiably dried up. Despite this, I really enjoyed the old bingo, it was great craic and you can kind of see why it has went under a bit of a renaissance in recent years. If you play online, you might as well play in a bingo hall because its the same game and at least you get to socialise a bit. There is plenty of parking here but you're better off getting down early as it usually fills up and its not weird to see entire coach loads of people at the bingo.