Bet Exchange News - February 2004

A European exchange

Although it is registered as a bookmaker in London , so far the majority of Betsson 's activity has been in Scandinavia and other areas of mainline Europe . As betting exchanges have been predominantly UK driven this explains their relatively low profile. Appearances can however be deceptive and through aggressive marketing in their key markets Betsson have built up a large and active user base which establishes them as a major player in the betting exchange world. To get a feel for this look up Betsson on www.alexa.com. This is a site owned by Amazon which ranks websites by the number of visitors they get. When I checked yesterday I found that their ranking amongst the betting exchanges was second only to Betfair . This is far from a definitive scientific test, but it certainly gives an indication that this is an exchange to be taken seriously.

There are a number of reasons for Betsson 's success in their chosen markets. A key factor is that they offer their site in seven languages and were the first exchange to offer Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finish language options, as well as being amongst the first to offer German and Italian. Another obvious point is that they offered markets of local interest which were unavailable elsewhere. Finally they have made a major commitment to promoting the concept in these markets, with television adverts, posters on the tube and film sponsorship. In Sweden , Betsson sponsors Frasier, something which can't be cheap. The end result is a dedicated and active user base in countries that the other exchanges are only just beginning to explore.

Features

Betsson is another site which is based on the tried and tested Betfair model, although it must be said that they have come up with some interesting variations. Betsson is very quick and the navigation is particularly good. At first glance it might not be all that clear, but if you take a few minutes to explore the navigation features you will be delighted with the ease and speed at which you can skip between markets. In the left hand column you will see a list of categories, each with a + symbol next to it. If you click on this symbol, the menu will open up to display all tournaments within that category. Each of these tournaments in turn has a + symbol next to it. If you click on that you then get a list of current markets in that tournament.

At any stage you have the option to click on the category rather than the +. Do this and a coupon style summary displays the best available odds to back and lay in the match winner market for each of the fixtures within the category. Of course the more you use the + button to narrow down the list, the shorter the list will be. It may however suit many users to display the whole of the list so they can check all forthcoming fixtures to identify outstanding value. Another feature which is of particular use to anyone who specialises in particular markets eg the +/- 2.5 goals market is that you can select this so that these are the only markets which are displayed in coupon form. This enables you to quickly scan all of these markets without the need to go in and out of the individual matches. If you want to find the forthcoming football matches, simply click on the football category and all the matches are ordered in coupon style by fixture start time. This is very useful if you want to see what games are being played that day. This may sound quite complicated, but it really isn't. Just give it a try and you'll get the hang of it within minutes.

So long as they appear on the same page you also have the facility to place multiple bets at once on one or more of these markets. So far as I am aware this is a feature that is unique to Betsson and will prove to be a very efficient and convenient way for some users to place their bets. For example, I pulled up all the Premiership games on Saturday and laid all the teams by clicking on each individual lay box, all the bets then appeared in the right hand column. I then selected the odds I was willing to offer on each team and then used the autostake feature, this allows you to select the liability you are willing to offer on each bet. I selected a liability of 40 Euros, this means that my total liability on each individual game was only 40 Euros. Then I was able to submit all the bets with one mouse click!

In terms of markets offered, Betsson have focussed on the markets of most interest to their core European markets. A particular strength is their soccer offering, which in terms of numbers of leagues covered is probably second to none. Every professional league in Europe is covered, with for example markets on six Swedish leagues available.

Deposits are favourable with Betsson as they don't charge for bank transfer deposits, VISA credit card, VISA delta, VISA Electron, SOLO or SWITCH. Watch out though they do charge 2.5% for VISA if you are non-UK resident and they charge everyone for MasterCard deposits.

Opportunities on Betsson

"By matching people's bets across Europe , our clients are currently taking advantage of the disparity in odds across different European countries, giving themselves the best available odds anywhere on the net."

The above quote from a Betsson press release sums up the main reason why exchange users should sign up to Betsson . Whilst betting exchanges offer great value compared with bookies wherever you are, in some of these countries the difference is even more pronounced. This seems to be the case in many of the countries that Betsson operates, where they are used to betting at inferior odds to many other countries. This creates opportunities for us because punters from those countries are more likely to accept bets from us at odds that UK opponents may not consider. Chris Duncan Marketing Director for Betsson confirmed this when he told us:

"In Finland they are used to betting with 120% books. As a result they are happy to bet at odds which would perhaps not be entertained in the UK . This obviously creates great value for those on the other side of the betting equation."

Chris tells us that less than 20% of their punters currently come from the UK , which can result in markets that are at times completely out of line with those elsewhere. Take the example of England playing Sweden in a soccer international. If you were betting on an exchange with a heavy concentration of UK members the laws of demand and supply dictate that the odds available on England would be lower than you might expect to get from an exchange with a heavy bias towards Sweden . This is an extreme example but you see variations on this theme all the time on Betsson and I have had many bets matched on Champions League matches at odds well outside of the range that could be achieved elsewhere.

Even more interesting, and on the face of it, more difficult to explain is the massive difference you sometimes get on Premiership and FA Cup matches. Chris Duncan suggests a reason for this:

"Most of our clients are not from the UK , and whilst they may have a better understanding of Swedish handball, it is difficult to believe that they have a better understanding of the Premiership and FA Cup. Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are always heavily backed by our clients. The reason for this is that our clients see the odds available in their country on these teams and look at the fantastic value they can get on these teams on our site."

The odds differential can be even more pronounced when betting in running. A good example occurred during the FA Cup tie between Spurs and Man City (the first match, not the high drama replay). When City were leading 1-0 at half time, I was able to back Spurs to win at odds of 14.5 on Betsson , and lay them on Betfair at 12.5. When Spurs equalised I was able to back them on Betfair at 4.7 and lay them on Betsson at the same price leaving me with a small loss on Betfair with a decent all outcome profit on Betsson . Another example occurred when I was able to back AC Milan in the dying stages of their Champions League fixture at odds of 1.17, when the going rate elsewhere was 1.11.

In summary

Betsson 's ultimate vision is to create a one stop gambling site where members can place sporting bets at the best possible odds, as well as indulge in more conventional forms of gambling. In due course they plan a p2p poker offering, and they already have a casino. As the mission of Bet Exchange News is to help subscribers achieve long term gambling profits, I would recommend leaving the casino alone. There is no way of getting a statistical advantage when betting on any casino, and regular play is extremely unlikely to result in long term profits.

Betsson does have some draw backs. In keeping with the site's primary audience, you will find such sports as bandy, handball, ski jumping and chess on offer, but as yet no horse racing. This is something they will have to rectify if they want to appeal to the wider market and I believe that they will start to offer this later this year. Another niggly point is the lack of telephone service, I have rarely had to phone the other exchanges, but it is nice to know the facility is there if required. The final point which bugs me as someone used to betting in sterling is that the site's currency is in Euros which adds an extra complication when betting between the exchanges. Again, not a major issue, in fact it's easily sorted with a calculator, but it could put off some users.

For serious exchange users, however, these minor inconveniences are totally outweighed by the exceptional value which is available on selected markets, particularly those that I have mentioned above. As I write this, Betsson could be described as the betting exchange industry's best kept secret, a situation that is unlikely to last forever. I strongly recommend that readers sign up with Betsson now and make hay while the sun shines!

Special offer to Bet Exchange News readers

For a limited period Betsson have agreed to make a special offer available to all new customers who sign up via Bet Exchange News. Click here to open your account and you will then pay a preferential rate of only 3% compared with the usual rate of 4%.