Internet gambling
With the arrival of the World Wide Web, many bookmakers have an online brand, although independently owned bookmakers often still maintain a "bricks and mortar" only operation and others operate a "skin" or "white label" operation which they purchase from one of the large firms as is the case with BetDirect and Betterbet . The main websites only accept bets from countries where internet gambling is not prohibited, and from people over 18 years old. Often these websites are linked to online casinos. Controversially, the explosion in Internet gambling is being linked to an increase in gambling addiction, according to the UK's help and advice organizations for addicts, GamCare and Gamblers Anonymous.
Increasingly, online bettors are turning to the use of betting exchanges such as Betfair and BETDAQ, which automatically match Back and Lay bets between different bettors, thus effectively cutting out the bookmaker's traditional profit margin also called an overround.
These online exchange markets operate a market index of prices near but usually not at 100% competitiveness as exchanges take commissions on winnings. True Wholesale odds are odds that operate at 100% of probabilistic outcomes.
Some bookmakers have even taken to using betting exchanges as a way of laying off unfavorable bets and thus reducing their overall exposure. This has led insecurity from the TAB in Australia, a government-run betting agency which attempted to deny Betfair an Australian license by running unfavorable ads in the media regarding the company. When Tasmania granted Betfair a license despite these efforts the Western Australian state legislature passed a law that specifically criminalised using betting exchanges from within the state, however that law was later ruled to be unconstitutional.
Betting exchanges are universally disliked by the traditional bookmaker. Not only are they generally able to offer punters better odds due to their much lower overheads, but also in giving opportunities for arbitrage: the practice of taking advantage of a price differential between two or more markets, although traditionally arbitrage has always been possible by backing all outcomes with bookmakers (dutching) as opposed to laying an outcome on an exchange. Exchanges do, however, allow bookmakers to see the state of the market and can set their odds accordingly.
Bets are also taken via phones, using SMS text messages, though poker and other sports are more suited to other mediums. As technology moves on, the gambling world ensures it is a major player in new technology operations.
Most televised sports in the United Kingdom and Europe are now sponsored wholly or partly by Internet and high street bookmakers, with sometimes several bookmakers and online casinos being displayed on players' shirts, advertising hoardings, stadium signs and competition event titles, although Werder Bremen are currently fighting the German courts for the freedom to continue featuring bookmaker Bwin on their shirts, as Germany and France take action against online gamers.
With the recent banning of tobacco sponsorship, and the significant commercial budgets available to the gaming industry, sponsorship by car manufacturers, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and fast food marketers is being rapidly replaced by sponsorship by gaming companies in the Far East and Europe.
The United Kingdom Gambling Act 2005 introduces a new regulatory system for governing gambling in Great Britain. This system includes new provisions for regulating the advertising of gambling products. These provisions of the Act came into effect in September 2007. It is an offence to advertise in the UK, gambling which physically takes place in a non-European Economic Area (EEA), or in the case of gambling by remote means, gambling which is not regulated by the gambling laws of an EEA state.[1]
The situation is more confused in the United States, which has attempted to restrict operators of foreign gambling websites accessing their domestic market. This has resulted in a ruling against the US Government by the WTO.[2]
References
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
Exchanges and traditional bookmakers compared
Most exchanges make their money by charging a commission which is calculated as a percentage of net winnings for each customer on each event, or market. Gamblers whose betting activities have traditionally been restricted by bookmakers (normally for winning too much money) have found these sites a boon since they are now able to place bets of a size unrestricted by the exchange - the only restriction is that one or more opposing customers need to be willing to match their bets. Moreover, the odds available on a betting exchange are usually better than those offered by bookmakers, in spite of the commission charged, because the middle man is eliminated.
In spite of these advantages, exchanges currently have some limitations. Because exchanges seek to concentrate their liquidity in as few markets (i.e. propositions) as possible they are not currently suited to unrestricted multiple parlay betting. Betfair does offer accumulators but these are limited in number and type: Users cannot determine the outcomes contained in accumulators themselves. Some exchanges also offer multiples but the exchanges act in the same manner as traditional bookmakers in doing so (i.e. they themselves and not a customer act as the layer of such bets) Exchanges also tend to restrict the odds that can be offered to between 1.01 (100 to 1 on i.e. 1 to 100) and 1000 (999 to 1).
A further advantage that traditional bookmakers retain over exchanges is that bookies are better willing and able to allow customers to bet on credit. There are two obvious reasons for this:
- Exchanges operatee on much tighter margins, which lessens their ability to absorb bad debts.
- Allowing customers to bet on credit would likely compromise customer confidence in the financial integrity of an exchange, especially when one considers the effects of the ongoing credit crisis and the close association between betting exchanges and Internet betting in general.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
History of betting exchange
The concept of peer-to-peer betting - the precursor to a betting exchange - was first brought to the public by the UK website Flutter.com in May 2000. At the same time Irish-based betting exchange Betmart.com was launched into the UK. Soon after, UK-based Betfair launched what it originally called "open-market betting", in June 2000 - a name which was quickly changed, by the media and the associated industry, to "betting exchange". Betfair embraced a pure exchange model - one Flutter later adopted and, some say, even improved upon in places - but it took a year before Flutter launched their new technology, and first-mover advantage proved decisive for Betfair. Though Flutter managed to climb to a reported 30% market share, Flutter's backers were content to broker a merger which left Betfair the dominant partner by a reported ratio of 84:16. Post merger, Flutter's customers were transferred to Betfair's system, which was later upgraded to embrace some of Flutter's functionality. Betfair went from strength to strength and controls a reported 90% of global exchange activity today. In late 2004, Betfair announced a rescue package which resulted in it absorbing the customers of Sporting Options, which had gone into administration with debts in excess of £5 million.
As with other types of exchanges, betting exchanges thrive on liquidity and customers tend to focus on the exchange where they are confident their bet can be paired up with a matching counterbet. Breaking with British tradition, Betfair uses decimal odds instead of fractional (traditional) odds because they are more popular globally. Some of its competitors allow customers to use fractional odds if they prefer.
Unsurprisingly, Betfair's success has attracted a number of rivals.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
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