Your standard bookies really, if you've been to a Sean Graham store before then you'll know what to…read moreexpect, if you haven't here's the main points.... Modern decor with a few screens to watch the horse racing or dogs, plenty of slips on offer, including football specials. Manned counters with staff willing to help. They are the basics really. Not too many people actually venture in to these store because of how easy it is to have a dabble online so the clientele of this store is a little older and a little weathered. Saturday's is the busiest day for obvious reasons!

Betting is something I have never found myself being particularly skilled at. My distinct lack of…read moreinterest in all things sport may be the reason for my downfall in this regard but on the very rare occasion - after one or two pints of the foaming ale I've opted for a punt. This particular branch of William Hill is more or less identical to the many across the UK and Ireland. I put a bet on a random horse race that was about 10 minutes away from starting when I came in. I tried my best to look as educated in the ways of the betting man but I think I just came across as beleaguered and confused. My whopping £2 bet left me with a £2 hole in my pocket - alas I didn't win a thing, but it was of course the brief, slightly tipsy experience that counted.

I sometimes like to lose money. When I feel like doing that, I do it in a way I know that's almost…read moreguaranteed to leave my pockets lighter than they were before. Betting on Tottenham. This place like many other bookies, has that stench of desperation and old smoke, despite the fact that people couldn't smoke there for years. It looks pretty much the exact same as every other branch of William Hill around the country, they uniformity policy being 2nd to none. The staff are hidden behind their bullet proof glass and think this safe guard gives them leave of their manners and they can be as rude as they like. Thank god I only bet once a blue moon.

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.

Sean Graham sounds like the name of one of your mates but it's actually one of Northern Ireland's…read moreforemost bookmakers. You'll find these stores littered around Belfast. This particular branch is located next to Holywood's Social Club and a Wine Market Off License so you can imagine where they get their the majority of their business. I called in here today to do a bet on the World Championship boxing and handily they had betting slips with the odds already printed strewn around the store. The facilities in this store are second to none. I counted about 4 small TV's and 2 plasma screens as well as ample seating for punters. There's a coffee machine in this store too so you can set up camp and watch the horse racing if you're that way inclined.

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.

This is usually the last stop off for me and my friend Gary if me and him have a particularly big…read morenight out in town and want to waste even more money having a bit of a gamble. There are all sorts of machines and games to play. Gary and I usually spend all of our time and money on roulette and we have done ok some nights in the past. I think I'm pretty much even for all my trips here, which I think isn't bad. There are also some high stakes slots and poker tables. Poker isn't for me but I don't mind the slots. I would just make sure you know what you're doing before you put in some money because it can disappear pretty quickly if you are playing at the highest stakes. A fun night out or fun to play until 3am, just make sure you set a budget or you could wake up with that terrible sinking feeling the next morning.

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.

What is that makes these annoying amusement arcades so darn alluring?! Walking by Palladium…read moreearlier, I barely batted an eyelid. That is, until I spotted the 2p machine. Looking all lonesome and unoccupied. And I was in, darn it. With my three 2ps, which were naturally gone within seconds. Scouring the room, I noticed a variety of different 2p and 10p machines, plus a lovely little machine which offers to transfer your larger coins into 10ps. How nice of it. Armed with my ten 10ps, I dashed to the nearest machine and stuck the first coin in. Out popped a wealth of 10ps...first time lucky or what?! Ha, well within five minutes, the rest of those 10ps, plus the nine remaining from my pound had disappeared into oblivion. Isn't that always the way? Another pound later, and I was in exactly the same position, except a couple of pounds poorer. Fortunately, I knew it was time to stop, and so I avoided the second half of the arcade (18+ only, and given past circumstances, I would probably be ID-ed, and due to lack of ID, wouldn't have gotten awfully far anyway). If you have a couple of 2ps and happen to be walking past Palladium...BEWARE. That's all I'm saying.

I cant believe anyone would go into the Palladium without at least some vaccinations, the palladium…read morehas been around for years and years and used to be a proud amusement arcade that would attract families and kids on a seaside getaway but now it is run down and attracts the local teenagers planning no good. The facilities are not what they used to be, they have got a bit dated and I really think the Palladium is in need of a facelift. Maybe it is because I am from Bangor and therefore no longer see the novelty in this place. I am going to try and look at it from a tourists eyes for the rest of the review. Okay, so what does the Palladium have to offer? 18+ gaming, a few two penny nudgers, some teddy scams, sorry I mean teddy machines with the big claw and a few pool tables. I suppose if you are visiting a seaside town you expect to see this sort of place but it could portray itself in a much better light and with a lick of paint could rake in the summer time cash. One redeeming feature is definitely the staff who are always friendly and polite even if the customers are not.