So it would seem the general consensus is that Betfair is eventually doomed to fail, at least as far as their coverage of horse racing is concerned?

Hopefully not completely doomed as CP says they can turn it around with a bit of tweeking. Unfortunately there is no viable alternative. Tote betting is for mugs and if you win on the bookies you get banned. Today I had my second a/c banned by Sportsbet.

Also got my fingers x'd they get their act together longterm, as the thought of having to go back to tote only betting makes me kind of ill....

Ouch! Thanks for that Mark.

Some of the mugs do very well thankyou at considerably better odds than Betfew can offer.

Maybe your brush strokes are a little broad. My feeling is that the number of angles left in this game is underestimated.

Sorry Twobets, no offence intended. Not knowing the possible return just doesn't sit right with me.

Hi Mark,

if you don't mind me asking, what exactly was your 'crime' at SB and is there a way to avoid / delay for future reference?

Cheers LG

I was unfortunate enough to win. And if there is a way around it please let me know.

Not sure what you mean Mark, but if you want to avoid winning just follow the tipsters.

Yes I know what you mean and I've graduated from that class some time ago and now I'm betting almost exclusively with the TAB.

Some with BF but not a lot, as I am not a layer and as a backer can't get matched for the amount I want, in the price range I'm operating in, or at least not easily.

Don't get me wrong, they are doomed as it stands currently.

As I understand it, and I could be wrong, they moved their operation to Malta because of turnover tax in GB, however, they cannot do that here. I understand that the whole reason for the Hobart operation was to be granted a licence. If they move offshore to negate the turnover tax, they cannot offer anything Australian under the Gaming Act.

That's my understanding of it, and I could be wrong.

Betfair have a number of options and those options are either not viable for Betfair, or not viable for clients.

I'm hoping one of the guru lawyers who gets the big bucks can pull a rabbit out of a hat and hey presto :D

I'm not even half bottle on the intricacies of the system but how come they can operate on the US races from here and on the UK races from Malta?

Also if they set up business in say Vanuatu, what is stopping them to bet on OZ races?
I was in Europe recently and had no problem betting on the TAB or downloading my form files.

Just wondering if it's only a gentleman's agreement in the end or are the laws enforceable?