BetButler goes bust

No shock here, another UK-facing bet brokerage has gone under. Customers have complained about withdrawal delays for over 12 months, while the UK Gambling Commission sat there and did nothing. They only appear to be interested in sustaining that overrated, self-perpetuating industry called compliance. Gotta make sure those boxes on the fancy forms are ticked!

Earlier in the year, BetButler were even allowed to take over the debts of Bodugi, the failed social gambling site of Dave Nevison, whose customers had already suffered cash flow problems - talk about a double hit!

Hat tip to BettingTools.co.uk for the article

BetButler ceases trading

Remember BetBrokers back in 2008? A very familiar tale.

BetBrokers goes broke

The concept of a bet brokerage is nothing new - in Australia there have been numerous individuals over the years doing the same thing, we call them commission agents. Either for convenience (don't have the time or energy to chase best price), anonymity (celebrity) or barred by bookmakers (not so common a decade ago), they offer a service to place bets for people. Much easier to do with on-course bookmakers in Australia are they are compelled to take a bet, unlike the corporates. Anything outside of the mainstream though becomes very difficult as it's now beancounters rather than old school bookies willing to go head-to-head against the bigger punters.

Switch that business plan to the UK and you're done before you've even started. If it couldn't work for BetBrokers several years ago, it ain't gonna swim now. You have no chance of getting big money on regularly on racing unless you lose hand over fist. The market simply isn't that deep and bookies aren't interested in handling any decent money which might be informed, regularly beats starting price, or only ever takes top price. Given that modus operandi, horse racing is always going to be the prime attraction of a bet brokerage for a punter in need of such a service. Those wanting the service will be the ones wanting to take top price regularly, otherwise they'd be happy using the likes of Star Sports who will handle the big money, but without the gimmicky offers.

For football and cricket, if you stick to the main couple of markets, there will be plenty of outlets connecting you to the vast liquidity in Asia. Beyond that, even on those sports, you will struggle - a boutique operation with limited membership might be able to crack it but a business which tries to cater for large numbers of clients simply will not work.

Now I wonder when someone will ever sort out/shut down that mob of Irish cowboys, SportsSpreads?

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,

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

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...

Sport is made for betting

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