Phase one in the war against BetFair has begun. (my interpretation only).

There have been changes to bet cancellation rules which I consider to be combatting people "shopping around" for the best price.

I am quite sure that people have been cancelling there Tabcorp bets when they see a better price on Betfair or IAS and hence the rules have changed so that you cannot change your bet after 15 minutes before the advertised start time and after your bet has been placed you may only CHANGE it not cancel it!!!

Here are the rule changes courtesy of the TabCorp site:

8. CANCELLATION OF INVESTMENTS


8.1. Subject to the exceptions set out in 3.3.3, 8.2, 8.3 and 9, an Investor may cancel an Investment and obtain a Refund of that Investment at any time prior to the close/sell time of the Event concerned.

8.2. If an Investment is for Win, Place or Quinella Bet Types, an Investor may only cancel that Investment:


8.2.1. any time up to and including fifteen (15) minutes before the Advertised Starting Time of the Event concerned in which case the Investor may obtain a refund;

8.2.2. any time within fifteen (15) minutes of the Advertised Starting Time of that Event


8.2.2.1. in the case of Investments made through a human operator in a Cash Outlet , at the first practical moment immediately following the discovery of an error made by either the Betting Operator or the Investor provided that the error is brought to the attention of the Betting Operator within three (3) minutes of the time the Investment was originally made or close/sell time, whichever occurs first;

8.2.2.2. in the case of a Telephone Betting Investment made through a human operator, before the conclusion of the telephone call during which the Investment was originally made;


In either case, the Investment details may be corrected but a Refund may not be obtained;


8.2.2.3 in the case of Investments made through a Self-Service Terminal in a Cash Outlet, Telephone Betting Investments made using interactive voice response or natural language speech recognition technology or Internet Investments, following an error made by the Betting Operator:


8.3. Investments on a Feature Double may not be cancelled, nor may any Refunds be made.

8.4. Internet Investments may only be cancelled in accordance with this Rule by using the telephone number provided on the Betting Operator’s website.

8.5 Investments made through a Self-Service Terminal in a Cash Outlet may only be cancelled in accordance with this rule at a Cash Outlet at which it is possible to cancel the Investment with the assistance of staff at the Cash Outlet.

8.6 Telephone Betting Investments which are transacted using interactive voice response or natural language speech recognition technology may only be cancelled in accordance with this Rule by calling the Betting Operator’s Telephone Betting Centre.


It is painfully obvious why these changes were introduced.
It is up to the individual, but my suggestion is that this will be a very bad move for TabCorp. The pools will not reflect the true weight of money until the jump because people will not commit their money until the very last minute, knowing that they cannot cancel their bet, and being confident they could not have obtained a better price elsewhere for that particular race.

TabCorp have long been trying to get people to bet earlier to stop the last minute rush on their site and with telephone betting - surely this move has now defeated any chance of educated punters betting early.

My Beef For the Day.
:sad:

All I can say is "HEAR HEAR"

Hmm - must be some logic there somewhere - I can't see it though.

Tabcorp Manager: We have a new competitor that is threatening to take a large chunk of our business, how do we respond? Do we make our betting more attractive to them in some way? No, we are losing 0.5% of our turnover to cancellations - lets stop those - that will solve the problem!

Makes you wonder doesn't it!

PS. I notice the bright sparks at Tabcorp haven't even realised they have 2 meetings at Mooney Valley today - they only have the day meeting listed on their website!

__________________
"Computers can do that????" - Homer Simpson