evolution of gambling in Australia

Interesting article here from the Sydney Morning Herald, illustrating the different betting characteristics on racing by state, and on particular sports. This highlights why betting sites need to know their punters and customise their product accordingly. The live betting figures are interesting - I'd have to see figures on how many games are shown live in each code to make a fair comparison. Australian terrestrial TV networks love showing matches on 30min delay so they can squeeze in as many ads as they can. From next year in the AFL at least, all games will be shown live, even in the home city. And about bloody time too!

Brash gamblers still think inside the box

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Nicholas Tzaferis, general manager of Tabcorp's corporate affairs, says, "In terms of race betting, NSW punters have a clear preference for win betting, which accounts for more than half of all money wagered on NSW racing. In Victoria, win betting accounts for 42 per cent of turnover."

Multiple betting, popular with small punters taking a range of combinations, is common in Victoria, with Tzaferis saying, "The quaddie [picking winners in four consecutive races] is king in Victoria. Forty-four per cent of our Victorian account customers placed a quaddie bet last year, compared with 26 per cent in NSW."

The listed corporate bookmaker Centrebet says recent trends in the most popular football codes in both states also support this. NSW punters are opting for live gambling on NRL, the "in the run" type gambling when the game is in progress, while the big increase in AFL wagering is on pre-game bets, the fixed-price action before kick-off.

Food for thought for any of these UK firms wanting to set up in Australia....

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Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also, ...

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur...

Sport is made for betting

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