Sport is made for betting

Must admit this one caught me by surprise. Initially Betfair had won the case alleging Racing NSW had discriminated against them and in favour of their bed partners Tabcorp in charging a 1.5% turnover fee for the use and publication of NSW race fields. Racing NSW appealed the verdict and were today awarded an unanimous verdict in their favour, despite clear evidence that Racing NSW do everything possible in their power to support Tabcorp. Racing NSW wins Federal Court decision The financial future of racing in NSW is secure following a decisive legal victory for Racing NSW over corporate betting agencies in the Federal Court today. Racing NSW executives were elated when three Federal Court handed down a unanimous ruling upholding the right of the NSW racing authority to impose a 1.5 per cent tax on turnover from all wagering operators covering NSW racing. Naturally Peter V'Landys is claiming victory and that his judgment as supreme ruler of NSW racing should never...

Racing NSW, the administrators of what should be the strongest racing in Australia, have shot themselves in the foot yet again as they desperately try to patch up the damage they have caused through pigheadedness and sheer incompetence over the past couple of decades. Merging racing clubs is the latest buzz strategy in Australian racing - the two metropolitan race clubs in Brisbane were able to do it (purely logical considering the two racecourses were literally across the road from each other), so NSW thought they should follow suit. It gets complicated though because the AJC (Australian Jockey Club) think their shit doesn't stink and any form of 'merger' with the STC (Sydney Turf Club) would reek of a takeover. Amazingly, the AJC members all voted for the merger, as all the benefits would go to them, a $150m grandstand at Randwick. No surprise when the STC voted against the move because of concerns about one of their tracks, Canterbury, being sold off, and worries about...

As Racing NSW fights desperately to hang onto its ridiculous racefields legislation based on turnover tax and discriminating against competitive operators, Racing Queensland have seen common sense and elected to follow the Victorian model. One-horse maiden against corporate bookies RACING NSW, the men and women who would run racing in Australia (and thank God they don't), has been further marginalised in the battle of philosophies on how best to make all the sport's stakeholders pay their way. The new ruling body of greyhounds, trots and thoroughbred racing in Queensland has struck an important agreement with corporate bookmakers on how to collect fees for using the state's race fields. And it is not the one that Racing NSW has spent a fortune in court fees to establish and defend. Racing Queensland has fallen into line with Victoria and other racing jurisdictions which use a gross revenue formula to collect product fees. The Racing NSW v Betfair and Sportsbet app...

The various appeals over the initial verdicts between Betfair and Racing NSW, and then Sportsbet and Racing NSW, over the racefields legislation fees will be heard this week. How long it will all take I'm not sure, but a piece of free advice for Peter V'Landys... start clearing out your desk!

The time of the most stubborn and incompetent racing administrator in the world is coming to an end. Defiantly, he still refuses to believe that a court could possibly rule against him and his policies which were proven in court to be discriminatory, and thus illegal. NSW Racing is being crippled by the amount of ridiculous legal fees this bozo and his board are wasting on cases they simply cannot win. Contrast this rhetoric as dictated to TABCorp and Racing NSW's mouthpiece, the Daily Telegraph, with this analysis from Bill Saunders , an industry analyst who actually understands the principles of law and negotiation. The Punters' Show on Racenet had an excellent interview with Andrew Twaits on the subject. Finally the industry that V'Landys supposedly lives and breathes for has had enough, a vote of 'no confidence' in V'Landys and the Racing NSW board is set to be put forward at next week's board meeting . Leading NSW trainer Gai Waterhouse said "It ...

First it was April, then May, now it's officially June. Race Fields court decision next month The protracted court action by two wagering operators against Racing NSW over rights fees is set to have its resolution next month. Racing NSW has been notified this week that Justice Perrem intends to deliver his judgment on the cases on June 16. Betting exchange Betfair undertook legal proceedings to challenge the NSW Race Field legislation, which came into effect last year and requires all wagering operators to pay a 1.5 per cent fee on turnover for the use of race fields. Rather naively I thought, Racing NSW last week released a strategic plan for the future dependent on them winning this court case. Surely that's prejudicial to the outcome, or it just makes Peter V'Landys a bigger target for ridicule if they lose the case? If V'Landys can hold his position if Betfair & Sportsbet win this case, then he should run for PM - completely unaccountable, can make ridiculous s...

Hyprocritical muppet. I'll leave it at that. Productivity Commission Gambling Report Represents Community View from Racing NSW CEO Peter V'Landys: "The Productivity Commission allowed presentations from a myriad of wagering operators but at no time sought to provide Racing NSW with the opportunity to make a presentation on behalf of its 50,000 participants." V'Landys fails to point out that Racing NSW did in fact make a submission, which was mostly ignored, much to his chagrin. In terms of poetic justice he might like to reflect on the very limited consultation process that Racing NSW engaged in when formulating its race fields strategy. Submissions were not considered from any wagering operator other than TabCorp and the one provided by Betfair was ignored. ... Racing NSW is furious that any party would want to dictate what it should charge for its racing, saying: "The two most ridiculous recommendations are that an independent organisation set the price of ...

Is it really 1973 in Sydney, or just in the ivory towers that Peter V'Landys lives in? The guy is that out-of-touch with his thinking that he surely still believes the world is flat. Yesterday the Australian Federal Government Productivity Commission released a report into the gambling industry in Australia. It delved deeply into problem gambling, advertising laws, online operations at home and abroad, hypocrisy of racing authorities and TABs, and all the other related issues. From what I've read, and there are 630 pages of it, it appears to be quite a balanced report. It outlines how the world has changed, how competition improves businesses and for the end consumer. It outlines how the ban on online casinos for Australians was a waste of time. And many other stories. If you fancy a few days of bedtime reading, you can download it here . Naturally, the muppet in charge at Racing NSW has come out and slaughtered it because the researchers actually believe in life after black an...

The 'independent review of wagering policy and regulation' (are these things ever genuinely independent anymore?), the Cameron Report, made many recommendations for changes to the NSW wagering industry and policy. The NSW govt has taken its time, but has finally come back with some changes which might actually be a positive move for the punting public. Cameron Report - Fixed-odds breakthrough for NSW Recommendations adopted include: • pursuing a national co-ordinated approach to the regulation and taxation of wagering; • allowing the NSW TAB to offer fixed odds betting on all races through its account betting network on the phone and internet; • after further consultation and support of the industry, NSW bookmakers will be permitted to accept bets at racecourses using the internet or telephone on a 24/7 basis, as in Victoria; • not permitting betting on reality TV shows, economic events and the like; • prohibiting off-course retail bookmaking kiosks; and • givin...

A publicly-listed company CEO is responsible to his or her shareholders and the board. Peter V'Landys, head of Racing NSW, leads a government-backed organisation and has no such issues with accountability. If he was out in the public sector, he'd been out of a job long, long ago. What an absolute goose. He has gone public on the Racing NSW website commenting about a letter from leading NSW bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse, just before the Racing NSW vs Betfair and Sportsbet case over race fields legislation and the inappropriate turnover-based fee goes to court. Rule 1 of legal cases - don't comment in the public domain just before the case is heard. You risk putting the judge offside by making dangerous assumptions, give the opposition chance to react and risk being held in contempt of court. Take a look at Bill Saunders' article - Racing NSW Rattled Never has someone so powerful had so little clue about the law or anti-monopoly regulations and glossed over the facts that t...

Nothing new here, just more of the same acts of desperation from Peter V'landys and TABCorp. Copyright is wrong strategy - Bill Saunders Betfair, Racing NSW still at loggerheads Betfair punts on revenue in NSW racing row When I was teaching people how to use Betfair more effectively, sometimes you would just have to throw your hands up in despair when people couldn't work out for themselves that their strategy was completely flawed or they wouldn't learn from their mistakes. I once had a guy who thought it was a great idea to lay a horse at about 30, then if it looked like winning, back it back at 3. He couldn't work out why he'd lost about £50k.... In business, if you put all your eggs in one basket, ignore all the advice from educated people in the field and piss ridiculous amounts of money up the wall, you should be held accountable for it. But as per usual in a government-appointed racing body, it won't happen...

Racing NSW supremo, or should I say, head muppet, Peter V'Landys, has banked his reputation and the future of the NSW racing industry on winning the race fields legislation against Betfair and corporate bookmakers in Australia. The issue - paying for the right to use Racing NSW information to take bets on NSW racing. Nobody is disputing the fact that the body that runs the show deserves to be paid by companies making money from it. The issue is how much and what is fair. Australia has two main states of racing - Victoria and New South Wales. NSW might have a bigger population but their racing isn't on a par with Victoria. When Takeover Target won last weekend on Doncaster Handicap day, it was a feat worthy of being cheered on by 40,000 people at least. They didn't even get 20 thousand on Sydney's second or third biggest raceday of the year - pathetic. Racing Victoria sets the standard in Australia - better prizemoney, bigger fields, better crowds, racing not as dominate...

Peter V'Landys, CEO of RacingNSW, is trying even harder to make himself look like a fool this week, making a desperate plea for funds collected from bookmakers and exchanges by a fee which is being opposed in court and in all probability will go against RacingNSW. So now he wants to use the money, but also makes the firms in question sign away their rights to getting the money back (if and) when they win the court case. Seriously, this bloke is up there where the heads of the financial world for not having the slightest grip on reality. V'Landysman wants the money Patrick Smith is a very opinionated Australian columnist who I rarely seem to agree with. But this time, he's taking a shot at a man completely worthy of ridicule. Bravo.

Faced with a court case about anti-competitive policy, Racing NSW, led by head muppet Peter V'Landys, is now trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes by saying the 1.5% charge on turnover for NSW racefields will apply to all operators, including TABCorp, not just the bookies and Betfair. TABCorp already pay three times that as part of their distribution, there is no way that will stick. SMH article - Tabcorp bristles at impost It's just a blatant attempt to mislead the court into thinking the fee isn't discriminatory. No wonder NSW racing is struggling when they piss money up against walls by employing fools with massive egos like V'Landys and Richard Freedman. Here's Bill Saunders' view on the case as a reminder.