New Wagering Control Initiatives

[VetScratch]

The Rain From Maine Fell Largely On Plain Folks!

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/todaysnews/newsview.asp?recno=41363&subsec=1

The Lewistown, Maine, hub was previously referenced in threads about both Chicago and California pools.

NYRA & MAGNA Say Bet Fair or Bet Not!

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/todaysnews/newsview.asp?recno=41340&subsec=1

[Seabiscuit@AR]

Some interesting articles there VetScratch.

I used to bet on the American races on Betfair but haven't been doing so lately.

The decision to cut the pictures to Attheraces will probably have a major negative impact on Betfair's business on the USA races. But I really cannot understand the decision. Most of the people playing Betfair I am quite sure were from the UK and so not allowed to open an account with a legal US betting operator. I am outside the USA so am in the same position. You can only open an account with an offshore operator or Betfair. So most of the money traded on Betfair was never going to go into the American tote pools in any case.

All that will happen now is that the Betfair players will find something else to trade on (I stopped playing the USA races a few weeks back as I could see all this coming once the Racing Channel's free tote board went by the wayside). That is what I have done. So if the American racing people ever try to open their pools to the world there will be less interest than there might have been (but I don't think this will happen anytime soon so it probably does not matter much).

The other thing is that Betfair have traded on Australian racing without permission for 11 months. In that time the Australian tote pools have gone up while Betfair's volume has started to grow to quite reasonable amounts on the major venues. I cannot see any evidence in Australia of a dollar for dollar loss from the tote pools to Betfair. Quite the opposite in fact.

If I were the USA racing people I would have let Betfair continue on the USA racing until there was some evidence of a drop in their pools.

Anyway the good news is that horse racing is about the only sport on the planet that thinks it is entitled to a share of betting revenue. Other sports are able to bring people through the gates or get them to watch on TV (as they are somewhat entertaining). All these other sports don't care if I use Betfair. Plus there are other alternatives to Betfair.

Just one last thing - The South African racing industry recently signed an agreement with Betfair to operate on its races. So the South Africans are not of the view that Betfair is going to kill them.

[VetScratch]

Seabiscuit,

I think this paragraph summarizes the U.S. racing issue with Betfair:

"Betfair pays taxes and a licensing fee similar to British bookmakers. British racetracks also get a fair share of Betfair’s business and are required to provide the exchange with the same signals and information as all other wagering enterprises. To U.S. tracks, Betfair is more like an offshore operation since gamblers who use that platform are not contributing to the pools or purse accounts of the host track."

Instead of stonewalling Betfair, U.S. racetracks should try to negotiate the kind of deal roughly outlined above.

[Seabiscuit@AR]

VetScratch

I agree. The racetracks should negotiate some kind of deal with Betfair. The problem comes with the amount of money. British racing has generally always received much less money per dollar bet than US racing does from the tote. So Betfair's offer to British racing was more acceptable. US racetracks probably get several cents in every dollar wagered. When someone offers them less than that they think they are being ripped off.

But I think it is a good opportunity for one of the ordinary tracks to test things out and sign a deal with Betfair over a trial period. Turf Paradise for example. There used to be days on Betfair where Turf Paradise had a slot all to itself on a Monday or Tuesday evening UK time (no UK racing to compete with and Betfair only covering Turf Paradise at that time of day). On these days the volume of money matched on Turf Paradise was up to 5 times the amount bet on TUP win pools (Betfair is only really involved in the win betting market or place betting not exotics). This result was acheived without anyone even trying to promote betting on TUP. (Just as an aside matched bets is not exactly like turnover but it is a rough equivalent when you count money on both the back and lay side).

I suppose one problem with signing a deal with Betfair is that you would have to allow American punters to use the site to place their bets. The track will then fear it will lose money from its pools from which they get a greater share.