Pool betting has always been popular in the UK, both in a small and informal way – the office pool for example – and on a nation wide level, since Sir John Moores introduced his Littlewoods football pools back in the 1920s. People who bet in a pool pay a fixed price to enter and make a selection on the outcome. Once taxes and a house take or “vig” are removed, the pool is evenly divided between the players who have made the correct selection. There are no odds involved in pool betting. Winners' payoff depends on the number of players and the number of winners.
With the huge popularity of online sports betting, it was only a matter of time until online bookmakers came up with their own form of pool betting. A pioneer in this field is Colossusbets, who have devised an interesting online solution for sports pools, based on the modern crowdfunding principle.
In the Colossus pools people can bet on football and a number of other sports, such as horse racing and tennis, by “crowdfunding” tickets. Players can either back existing tickets or create their own. What makes this new form of pool betting interesting, are added features like guaranteed jackpot prizes, consolation prizes for those who closely miss the jackpot, and the possibility to cash out, allowing players to sell all or part of their tickets back and lock in a profit regardless of the outcome in the remaining legs in the pool.
