Arbitrage in the BC.

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

How is this related to arbitrage?

There are multiple ways to bet a horse to win in the paramutuals, and they do not yield equivalent win odds. If you have access to last second odds with a computer ready to instantly analyze the data and make bets, you can take advantage of those differences.

[Weary]

Originally Posted by Dunbar

There are multiple ways to bet a horse to win in the paramutuals, and they do not yield equivalent win odds. If you have access to last second odds with a computer ready to instantly analyze the data and make bets, you can take advantage of those differences.

Here is an explanation of arbitrage betting from Wikipedia. Although the article focuses on obtaining odds from different bookmakers, the key concept is the same for multiple parimutuel pools.

[Indian Charlie]

Yeah, I used to do this for baseball, but I'd have to watch lines at multiple books religiously.

I did figure out a way to bet both sides in baseball games where the gain was much much higher, but there was alot of risk involved. It really wasn't arbitrage.

[ateamstupid]

The only ways to negate this--short of banning CRW outfits, which just isn't going to happen with how much handle they produce--are 1.) For exchange wagering to become the national standard or 2.) For every track and ADW to have conditional wagering options. The first remedy would likely take over a decade to implement, but the second one would be relatively easy and could be accomplished within a year. But enough people have to make a stink about this for anything to change. So far, it has mostly gone under-reported.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

The only ways to negate this--short of banning CRW outfits, which just isn't going to happen with how much handle they produce--are 1.) For exchange wagering to become the national standard or 2.) For every track and ADW to have conditional wagering options. The first remedy would likely take over a decade to implement, but the second one would be relatively easy and could be accomplished within a year. But enough people have to make a stink about this for anything to change. So far, it has mostly gone under-reported.

Can you elaborate on how conditional wagering alleviate this problem? There will always be some time limit on when a bet is accepted and unless that is when EVERYONE is shut off; a computer has more than enough time to analyze and make many bets.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by jms62

Can you elaborate on how conditional wagering alleviate this problem? There will always be some time limit on when a bet is accepted and unless that is when EVERYONE is shut off; a computer has more than enough time to analyze and make many bets.

Conditional wagering means your bet isn't placed unless your desired odds are met at the off. CRW's will still be able to drop the odds at the last second, but regular players would no longer be victimized by it.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Conditional wagering means your bet isn't placed unless your desired odds are met at the off. CRW's will still be able to drop the odds at the last second, but regular players would no longer be victimized by it.

If most people then do conditional wagering how would current odds be calculated? Seems like only those not doing conditional wagering will be affecting odds and wouldn’t the money pouring in at the off then change the odds and probably do so in dramatic fashion? Conditional wagering only works if the amount of conditional wagers is small enough to have little impact on final odds.