Sporting Post-Betting Exchange article

Dave,I agree and the "how to manage" should be to let the market forces prevail.
When I was involved in bookmaking I would have given anything to have one huge pool of punters available to trade with instead of a tiny pool in one tattersalls.

Barry is old school and therefore lacks the foresight to see the future and lacks the memory to see the failings of the past.

1: bookmakers input Zero in racing (bar a sponsorship here and there) they also for many years operated no pay accounts for trainers.
2: In a field of 10 , betting to 115% if you back any horse in the race you are "laying" the other 9 horses albeit at a shocking %
3: False claims and horses being laid that could never win are and were the order of the day.
4: I agree that the tote is GREAT but ONLY for multiple and exotic bets, that lure of winning a million with staking 1 unit is always going to be
a powerful advertising tool.
5: Exchanges and "betting on the machine" are here to stay, this is because if i think Gitano Hernando CANNOT win a race but i cant find the winner i want the option to lay the horse and have the field runnig for me. This of course can lead to crookery BUT since exchanges (BETFAIR) came along MORE blokes have been banned and investigated for crookery than ever before. This is because BETFAIR's intergrity is take seriously and the fact that they make obscene ammounts of money via commision and other revenue streams , one thing they really do is FORBID mr Irwin of laying gitano hernando himself on his account.This type of control never existed, they are here to stay like it or lump it.
6: The question is "is sa market big enough" BOYS you have no idea. Horseracing is not big enough for betfair. Cricket/football and tennis are the big markets and the REAL REASON bookmakers in SA are opposed to exchanges is because all those little "doubles and trebles and atc's "they mug off the punters every week" will now be TRADED ON BETFAIR by the punter and NOT BY THEM.

So if Betfair did come to SA it would not affect horseracing at all. There would be a few extra quid in the kitty but the BIG thing would be all you sports punters out there would now be able to change position during a game.

Hibs..dont waste your time questioning mate...certain people think they know it all..I for one as an owner (and pay for my horses myself!!) think betting exchanges are great for the game and in particular...Interbet

Betfair have just announced that they will be charging a premium commission of upto 60% on their biggest winners,anyone who has won over 250k lifetime will now be subject to the commission...so for the guys that have grinded away over the last 10 years will no be paying for their effort..

I thought it was the opposite that the high flyers paid a reduced comm? maybe that was based on turnover rather than profit.

hi ,morning to all
just my 2 cents input on a great topic....i think there are 2 types of punters...1 type plays for fun and the other play it professionally and work on margins, and put together their total money is not even a drop of what people dabble on the stock exchange or in forex..These guys that play on the stock market and forex trading can sit all night just top make 3-5% on their return,and this is the kinda players racing needs..When this influx of "new money"both parties could gain....actually 3 parties.....the 1st being the current racing contributors..the 2nd being the actual operaters...and the 3rd being the new players ......studing form as is required in horseracing and studying trends as is required in stockbroking,when broken down equates to much the same in terms of "gambling".So all being said i would like to play in a market where there is huge volumes and these new volumes will be supplied by a new breed of "investor"

Fascinating that there is a parallel to Betfair and SA racing.
Exchanges were a brilliant idea ,recognised as such with awards in the UK.The originators sold to a corporate whose greed is now putting an amazingly successful model in danger,as these "big" players,who provide the liquidity,and now being screwed with a greedy 60% "takeout",will inevitably move to the poor substitute Betdaq,and that could cause them to leapfrog Betfair in a flash and a blur,as the millions of Betfairs small players will gravitate to where the big money is.
Will watch developments with interest,but it is amazing how often the goose that lays the golden egg is destroyed by greed.

Clem Sumter, scenario planning guru in SA, in his book "The Casino Game" suggests that an economy should be managed like a casino. A top quality product , a customer service transformed into customer delight, 24/7, educated and passionate employees, and most importantly costs cut to the bone. If our Tote does not starting operating something like a Caesar's Palace it will die a slow death. And then what happens to horse racing?

60% PREMIUM CHARGES FOR WINNERS....


By Alistair Osborne www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/

Sandip Sayaniya, who aired his grievance outside the company's annual meeting on Thursday, claimed he was not the only customer involved in a row over "premium charges".

Betfair initially deducted 20pc of gross profits from successful punters gambling in more than 250 betting markets. In July, such charges were raised to 40pc to 60pc for customers who have won more than £250,000.


Mr Sayaniya alleges he has bet in less than 250 markets and made a £24,000 profit. However, he claims that on September 5 his account was suspended "under investigation of Premium Charge avoidance". On September 20 he received an email from Betfair's "pricing team" stating his account shared a similar betting strategy with four others, all of which would be taken into consideration for the charges. Betfair deducted all £52,352.85 in his account.

Mr Sayaniya, who plans to start legal action by next Thursday if the money is not repaid, said: "I do not recognise any of the other four accounts named by Betfair, and have never operated any account other than my own."

A Betfair spokesman said: "We thoroughly investigated this matter and we determined that the customer was evading payment of the required fees." He added that Betfair's legal department was happy to "discuss it with him further".

I have to agree with Dave, there's room for all three to exists and that would in turn give a punter more options as opposed to being restricted. But everyone who benefits from the game must fairly contribute to its existence.