Although Betfair is used here, it is not legal anywhere in Australia as yet.

Cheers.

Crash,

I think you are wrong there. The only state I am aware of that has any legislation that potentially makes Betfair illegal for people to use is NSW. ACT, Vic, Qld, SA and Tas dont have laws that cover it (not sure about WA) and the Federal Government legislation does not make it illegal (except if you bet "in the run" on the sports that are covered in this manner). If there isn't a law that makes it illegal then it is, of course, legal!

The NSW law has NEVER been enforced so we don't actually know if it would stand up in court (there have been various rumours that it wouldn't due to it breaching fair trade agreements, etc). I certainly wouldn't be surprised if nobody is ever charged under this law at all as I think it was primarily designed as a scare tactic for the TAB to use - it will lose it's scare factor if someone is charged and they get off with a slap on the wrist or have the law questioned by the judge. Better just to keep advertising the law but never try to enforce it! (If I was living in NSW I certainly wouldn't be worried about it!).

My main concern would be getting your money out of the exchange....from what i understand they are trying to stop you useing your CC on the sites

On 2003-12-19 11:55, Shaun wrote:
My main concern would be getting your money out of the exchange....from what i understand they are trying to stop you useing your CC on the sites


If we're talking Betfair, then I certainly wouldn't have any concerns at all about my money - they are a legitimate business and any adverse publicity in this area would severely affect their credibility.

The ban on credit cards was presented as a way of trying to force an Australian ban on offshore betting exchanges, if such a ban ever eventuated. As far as I know, there is no such ban in place on credit cards. The other thing is that the betting exchanges also have other methods of deposits and withdrawals, so such a ban would not be really effective anyway.

Just my AUD$0.02.

Cheers,
Chris.

Hi Stebbo,

Betfair & Betdaq are certainly trustworthy businesses and both are well established.

To my understanding there are two organizations that have expressed concern over Betfair operating in Australia. One of them is MasterCard. As far as the UK go, MasterCard seem to have imposed the following:

"MasterCard Changes
Recent industry-wide changes have been made that will not allow you to withdraw any funds back to a non-UK or non-Sterling currency MasterCard. Instead, you may withdraw funds to another registered card type such as a debit card, cheque, or by performing a bank transfer request. This may only be done once your MasterCard has been validated."

Betfair have a registered Bank Account in Sydney and funds can be transferred in and out of that. Internal Transfers are charged at $10Aud. There is no charge for Cheques.

Betfair maintain that they wish to be licensed in Australia. If this happens they do not see them selves as Betfair UK Company but would be Betfair Australia. (An Australian Company)

Freddy.