Heard on the radio today that there will most likely be an announcement next week that Betting Exchanges will be made illegal for all Australians to use and that banks will have to disallow use of credit cards.

We'll work around it even if i have to use cheques

Hi all
If the announcement is that the ARB dont wish to allow a license to an exchange in Australia,Im not happy about it but i will cop it.

I dont see how they can force banks to not allow their customers to spend their own money where they like. Im sure banks dont tell TABs who can and cannot bet with them.

I personally dont use Betfair on Australian Racing but would like to. If Im going to bet I will bet where I can get the most for my dollar, so I only use it for overseas racing of a night and I dont see why I should be stopped because the TABs and Bookies fear competition will eat into their inflated margins.

The TABs have used all types of garbage in their arguments but what about the **************** comparison. Are the TABS willing to pay product fees to all the sporting bodies that their Sportstab bets on, I doubt it They would owe some money if they did, to all the sports across Europe and America that they happily take bets on.

The other is that they dont want us betting overseas as it doesnt bring money here yet if you go to their open an account page, they will take customers from all but 3 countries. Very hypocritical.

I think we should be allowed to bet on overseas horse racing and sports at the very least,as the Tab pays nothing to these bodies. I am making reasonable amounts from doing this and wont be happy if this is taken from me, basically our freedom of choice is being taken away because a private company fears competition. Who do we talk to in regard sto these issues as it seems there is no real voice of the Punter being heard.

One other thing, wouldnt making it illegal to bet with an exchange have to be argued in parliament first, I hope you cant just create a law.

[ This Message was edited by: BF on 2003-06-29 17:17 ]

[ This Message was edited by: BF on 2003-06-29 17:18 ]

Hi
"Betfair is proud to announce that it has won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, in the Innovation category, for 2003.

The award is the latest and most significant endorsement the company has received, and will allow Betfair to carry the Queen’s Award emblem on its site for the next five years.

A Queen’s Award is given (as its name suggests) by the Queen, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, and following a full assessment by the Department of Trade and Industry."
A company get's a Queen's Award yet is deemed illegal!

Firstly, let me state that I have a neutral position on the pros and cons of Betfair being able to operate here. I think the TAB perceives this operator as a legitimate threat. Accordingly, a slumbering monolith has now been stirred into action and it has some very powerful allies so we will have to wait and see what happens.
However, the point I make is that Betfair operates in an environment in Britain where let's face it, racing is in a somewhat dubious state in relation to average prizemoney per race and the general quality of runners in fields with only a small number of runners. Look what Choisir did to their best in the space of one week!
In Australia, yes, we have some problems with our providers of betting services and the crippling taxes imposed upon the average punter.
Apart from this, our system is structured in such a way to ensure that a large portion of funds goes into increased prizemoney and facilities at the tracks. Although I believe there is a case for rationalisation of some administration to enable even higher prizemoney to be paid. This has a beneficial flow-on effect by making it worthwhile for new participants to enter the industry and outlay huge sums to hopefully share in the spoils. The breeding industry also benefits and breeders(local and overseas) are willing to pump large sums into their quest of finding a champion.
What I am saying is that a portion of every dollar bet here goes to the benefit of Australian racing unlike in England.
There is too much at stake here for the jolly green monolith to not react and I think I know who will win in the long-run.
Good luck in your endeavours but be prepared for a fairly predictable outcome.

Cheers.

I think you'll find the average race in the UK has quite healthy prizemoney, they just don't have the ridiculously high amounts for the big races that we are accustomed to, which, more often than not, goes to battlers like Cojuangco, the Inghams, Dato Tan Chin Nam etc.

Scraping 10% off the top echelon of races to boost the bottom rung would be far more beneficial than crap like running nine races on a Saturday in town, a race every five minutes etc blah blah...

I hope a large number of our forum contributors saw this morning's episode of Racing Retro during which the isuue of Betting Exchanges was discussed in depth by a range of racing officials.
It was very informative and I learned something which I previously was not aware of. That in W.A. legislation already exists for prosecution of clients betting with such entities. Did you get that? The Exchange cannot currently be prosecuted but clients can(although no such action has as yet been taken). So, sandgropers don't be too concerned but be aware!
The issues covered were the effect on Govt revenue(ie. commercial return to the Aust authorities), Aust taxes revenues, social impact on clients and INTEGRITY-an issue not to be taken too lightly. Conspiracy, coercion and exchange rate differnces were also covered. The ARB is prepared to talk to the operators but there is a ground-swell of all-out opposition to these operators growing. The slumbering monolith has well and truly been stirred into action so be prepared for assertive action being instigated in the very near future.

Cheers.

Interesting half page article about betting exchanges in todays AFR (7/7/2003 Page 15). Seems all is not lost. The ARB is in favour of betting exchanges provided they pay the appropraite taxes and charges. Article goes on to say it is expected that "all (taskforce) parties would come to a consensus".

One senior state gaming department official was quoted as saying "This whole betting exchange taskforce is a ******** set up by the NSW government..". Here here.

would this include an off shore operator like
dial a bet which operates out of vanuatu

Ditto to what Roman Koz had to say re Betfair in Practical Punter mag. Why should we support the TAB's 115% book???????????