Despite the ranting of the TAB's (and their mouthpieces) the nett effect to the Aussie punter of Tassie granting a licence to Betfair will be IMHO - Sweet F.A.
The punter (gambler really) who sits in the pub on a Saturday will not suddenly spend his day at home in front of the computer betting and laying in every race that appears on the TV.
The more sophisticated punter and those with a vested interest (e.g. the bookies) are already using Betfair - no change again.
If the TAB's decide (or are compelled) to reduce their % takeouts it would be great but I am not holding my breathe. If they do it will probably be a small reduction in the Win/Place % offset by an increase in the exotics %'s where Betfair doesn't compete.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/horserac...2703315603.html

Thought-provoking and insightful article by a Sydney bookmaker (name omitted through oversight).

While an on course Betfair presence is desirable I doubt his suggested way is workable.

Anyone on-course with a Betfair account and a sexy phone/PDA would be better off financially accessing Betfair directly.

A situation where bookmakers can easily hedge on Betfair would probably be a simpler and more effective alternative.

JFC, The bookie was Robbie Waterhouse.

Stand Back guys, the "Poo" is about to hit the fan.....

There are many with much to loose when Betfair starts up here and advertises freely..

They have been operating "undercover" for a while now and now they are out in the open... The times of change are upon us..

Will the TAB's & Race clubs start their own Betting Exchanges ?

Will some "Media Moguls" control the exposure form all parties because of their dual interests?

Will some scream foul every time a favorite gets rolled?

Will the punter really get a better deal? after all they have to be on the Internet... What about the pubs and clubs? the golden oldies that don't have access to the Internet?

They'll be a flurry of new betting schemes designed to take the unwary's money, that's for sure...

Picking losers should be easy, god knows I've been doing it for years, unintentionally.

Hang on to your hats guys (& Gals) it's going to be a bumpy ride till it shakes down

Its london to a brick the TAB will INCREASE the % takeout to make up for the expected LOSS of revenue to BETFAIR,
NOT reduce it.
,

My reasoning here is that the average punter sitting in the TAB or CLUB would never have heard of BETFAIR and if they did they couldn,t care less one way or the other.
They bet as a form of entertainment and relaxation and not as a way of making money.

Cynical.Probably.And I will stand corrected if I am wrong.

Cheers.
darky.

Dear Darky,

You are in fact quite right!

But how much do the Tab's really expect to loose to Betfair. If the "mug"punters bet for entertainment then that leaves the serious punter to do as they have always done, Go to the track, bet with Darwin, or seek a better deal elsewhere, like betfair.

I feel sorry for the hundreds (yes even thousands) of suckers that get dragged into betting schemes on the promise of easy riches...

Pick up a copy of your racing form newspaper and esimate how much was spent on advertising! At $500 -$800 each ad, there's a lot of suckers paying for it.

Readers, if you're new to betting and haven't formulated your own plan, or can't be sure what to back (or lay) then my advice is DON'T.. Professionals work longer hours than most "ordinary" workers (before raceday) and there's no gaurantee of success

If you can't make up your own mind about a runner, or you don't know how to handicap a race, then DON'T BUY SOMEONE ELSES IDEAS. Truly, they probably know less about the game than you do. They do however know how to laugh all the way to the bank by selling their schemes.

The only reason anyone wants to sell their "winning ideas" is because it's worthless! If these schemes were sucessful they'd use them themselves! (why have the hassle of dealing with customers?)

We are about to see a flood of these schemes on the market in the run up to christmas (all targeting Betfair)

Who will be the loosers after the shakedown? --- Racing in general...

Gee, if I didn't have a conscience I would be one of them.
I would imagine the only thing better than laughing, would be laughing all the way to the bank.

And...
Since I started betting full time, I have turned over about $650,000. I would estimate that less than $500 of that was placed on the tote.
Does this mean that the tote has missed out on all of that? No. The simple answer is, if the tote was my only option, I would have turned over $0.

When I place a bet on Betfair, (~70% of my betting is done here) chances are, some of the people that have laid my bets are going to go and back the same horse on the tote. When I bet with the bookies, the chances are that some of that money will find its way to the tote.

Now if even 10% of the money that I bet indirectly ends up on the tote, then that is $65,000 that they would not have seen otherwise.

Hopefully some of you will understand what I am trying to say.

It's a pity many more of those scaremongers don't understand more about what you've explained BJ. IMHO that's the one of the reasons the tote turnover has increased since Betfair have been on the scene.

Your quite right .
Any sane , sensible punter bets either BOOKMAKER or BETFAIR.

Sad as it is, very few in my opinion share our view.

Cheers.
darky.