Bet Exchange News - Mar 2004

New format

Welcome to the March issue of Bet Exchange News. The new format will enable you to pick the articles you wish to read and go straight to them, rather than having to wade through the whole issue. The changes were also necessary because in the previous format the newsletter was being rejected by many spam filters. Hopefully no-one will have this problem now. As always if you have any comments or feedback about this newsletter please let me know. Over the next few months I will be planning the next phase for the website. If you have any thoughts of what you would like to see on it I would be pleased to hear from you.

This months contents

They say there's no such thing as bad publicity. I'm not sure that Betfair and the other exchanges will agree with this after unwittingly finding themselves at the centre of one of the most controversial weeks in racing history. Champion Jockey, Kieren Fallon, apparently threw away a race that was to all intents and purposes won, after allegedly telling an undercover reporter that another horse in the race would win. The following day jockey Sean Fox seemingly jumped off his horse mid race, after his horse had drifted from 2.0 to 5.0.

Betting exchanges, it has been pointed out enable people in the racing industry to benefit from their horse losing. This gave many sections of the media their headline. The implication, either explicit or unspoken was that exchanges were to blame, and something must be done to curb them. Much of this hype was naturally fuelled by the anti lobby who were able to gain widespread coverage for their views, with seemingly little right of reply from the exchanges themselves. For many people this will have been the first time they have heard of betting exchanges, and their impressions cannot have been good. Betfair have produced a comprehensive response to the recent media coverage, which can be seen in the Betfair News section of the site. For convenience it is also reproduced in this newsletter.

In this issue of Bet Exchange News we will be looking at the events themselves and trying to put them into some sort of perspective. With exchanges in the spotlight, their opponents have taken the opportunity to promote their concerns to a previously untouched audience. One of the issues that has been thrust into the limelight is that of British horse racing's funding crisis, and the anti lobby have repeated their claims that exchanges are responsible for the short fall in racing's finances. Betfair take an alternative view which is laid out in their report The Funding Question. This issue takes a close look at this impressive and revealing document.

These are very busy times for betting exchanges as the issue of layers being licensed or taxed comes under consideration. Under the news section you will find the Racing Post's article about Gordon Brown's Budget Speech. I also reproduce an excellent posting from the Betfair message board by a poster called Bobthebuilder who presents a brilliant alternative view of this issue.

Getting away from the politics of betting exchanges this issue includes part 1 of a discussion of the market for I'm a Celebrity Get Me out of Here, my most profitable event to date, with a close look at what made this market so special for me.

This is a particularly full newsletter to reflect an extraordinary month. I hope you find plenty of interest in it.