NJ Exchange Wagering set for launch; UPDATE: Handle growing steadily

[Kasept]

Betfair launching first U.S. exchange-wagering site May 10
By Matt Hegarty

NEW YORK – The launch date for the first exchange-wagering site in the U.S. has been set for May 10, according to the site’s operator, Betfair, but wagering on the site will be restricted in the U.S. to New Jersey residents who are physically in the state when they make their bets, limiting the site’s reach.

Betfair officials announced the launch date during a series of meetings with media outlets in the New York and New Jersey area on Wednesday and Thursday as part of a carefully calibrated marketing campaign focused on the site’s purported benefits to the racing industry and gamblers. While anticipation for the launch of the site has been intense among many hard-core horseplayers, the debut of exchange wagering has also unsettled some industry constituents who have expressed concerns about the potential of the site to amplify perceptions of race fixing and threaten racing’s existing revenue streams.

The launch of the site is the culmination of seven years of business, political, and legal work by Betfair, which pioneered exchange wagering in Britain 15 years ago. In 2009, Betfair, seeking to expand to the U.S., purchased TVG, the horse-race broadcasting and account-wagering company, and it immediately began lobbying state legislatures to endorse exchange wagering. Only two states, California and New Jersey, have done so, and only horsemen in New Jersey have agreed to the company’s terms.

“I think this is a whole new growth area,” said Dennis Drazin, the president of the horsemen-led group that operates Monmouth Park under a lease from the state. “And in this industry, we have to figure out new ways to conduct our business.”

The success of the site faces several major hurdles, including concerns over whether enough bettors will participate on the site to provide adequate liquidity. Further limiting the site’s initial depth and scope, most major racetracks and horsemen’s groups outside of New Jersey have yet to embrace the concept.

Although Monmouth Park is a definite participant, Betfair officials would not provide a comprehensive list of racetracks that are expected to make their signals available for betting on the site at the launch, citing ongoing contractual discussions. However, The Stronach Group has already renegotiated its TVG contracts with Betfair, prohibiting the site from offering exchange wagering on its tracks, which include Santa Anita, Gulfstream, Golden Gate Fields, and Pimlico, the site of the May 21 Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown. A number of other major racetrack operators, including the New York Racing Association and Churchill Downs Inc., have not yet committed to offering their races on the site either.

Kip Levin, the chief executive of Betfair U.S., said many racetracks and horsemen are reluctant to commit to the site until the New Jersey operation generates data indicative of its impact. He predicted that more racing constituencies would sign on after the site has been up and running for several months.

“I think everyone is watching with a wary eye right now,” Levin said. “If the data show that we are adding incremental revenue, I think we’ll bring more tracks on board.”

The New Jersey legislature authorized exchange wagering early in 2011, but it has taken more than five years for all of the pieces allowing for a launch to come together. Under the enabling statute and regulations drawn up by the state racing commission, players will be able to open accounts only if they are New Jersey residents, and bets will be blocked if they are placed on devices outside of New Jersey’s borders, using geolocation technology. However, customers of Betfair’s U.K.-based exchange also will be allowed to participate.

Like its counterparts in other racing jurisdictions worldwide, the U.S. Betfair site will allow customers to place and accept bets on horses with other customers of the site at prices established by the customers. Betting on the site will be limited to win, place, and show wagers, but bets can also be posted and accepted after a race has started, a practice called “in-race betting.” In addition, unlike traditional parimutuel markets, customers will be able to use a variety of tools on the site allowing them to unwind or trade the positions they have established on races.

Supporters of exchange wagering believe the practice will usher in a new era for racing by establishing advanced wagering markets for bettors who are technologically savvy and understand sophisticated concepts of risk. Betfair has launched a website simulator of how the program works for U.S. residents, using real data culled from overseas races, in hopes of familiarizing potential players with the site’s various intricacies.

“The unique thing about [exchange wagering] is that you can be really good at betting markets without having a very strong opinion about a horse,” said Chip Tuttle, a racetrack and public-relations executive who is heading up Betfair’s U.S. rollout.

Betfair will make money off the exchange by charging customers a 12 percent fee on any net gains from wagers made on one race for a single bet type. In other words, if a player makes a variety of win bets on a race totaling $1,000 and cashes one of the bets for $1,100, the commission will be 12 percent of the $100 net gain. If the player breaks even or loses money, no commission is charged.

The Betfair commission structure differs significantly from the revenue structure of the parimutuel model, where approximately 20 percent of each pool is extracted prior to payouts being calculated and distributed, a system designed to provide payments to various racing constituencies. Because Betfair is expected to generate far less per dollar wagered in commissions than the existing parimutuel system, many horsemen’s groups have resisted calls to adopt the practice in the U.S., citing fears of significant revenue losses. Betfair supporters contend that exchange wagering will broaden racing’s fan base and betting handle, creating a net gain for a struggling industry.

Other industry groups have been reluctant to endorse the site because of fears that racing fans and handicappers will increasingly accuse horsemen and jockeys of deliberately keeping horses from winning because one side in every exchange wager is betting on a horse to lose. Betfair has countered that its system is adept at identifying suspicious wagers and that the company has and will continue to cooperate with all investigations of betting patterns on the site.

Earlier this year, the Jockeys’ Guild held a panel at its annual assembly urging jockeys to use caution when riding at tracks that allow exchange wagering on their races, in anticipation of the launch of the site. The recommendations included declining to allow owners or trainers to pick up checks at restaurants or otherwise accepting gifts from horsemen, along with exercising restraint when discussing their horses’ chances. The guild said it still does not have a clear idea of the regulations that would apply to riders in any investigation focusing on bets on the site.

[jms62]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg2y...ature=youtu.be

[Secretriat34]

i bet tony saprano and his crew from jersey had to give their okay

or should i type

i betFAIR tony saprano and his crew from jersey had to give their okay


BETFAIR I WOULD FELL MORE CONFIDENT IF IT WERE SPELT
BETFARE.. that way it doesn't mislead ..
as if fairness had anything to do with jersey gambling

besides that fare sounds like a carnival...and smells like a beer
ask the piano man

[GoIrish]

I'm very curious as to how this will work. Am I going to need another platform (Betfair?) or will it be integrated into the 4njbets.com platform they force us to use?

How will this work on track? Especially for the in-race bets? Is everyone standing at some kind of a terminal (there will need to be hundreds of them)?

Is a a smartphone, tablet, laptop the only option? The wi-fi is okay at MP, but can it handle the (possible) additional load this will all cause? I'm sure it won't work in the far reaches of the picnic area at present. I have to abandon wi-fi there and go 4g.

As one who is almost exclusively resistant to change, I'm willing to give it a try, but I need some guidance here. I need answers before I can jump in on this strange (to me) form of wagering.

[Pants II]

Originally Posted by GoIrish

Is a a smartphone, tablet, laptop the only option? The wi-fi is okay at MP, but can it handle the (possible) additional load this will all cause? I'm sure it won't work in the far reaches of the picnic area at present. I have to abandon wi-fi there and go 4g.

It's not going to work on big days. The internet is too slow nationwide to handle live bets that need to be placed in split seconds.

This requires new infrastructure and that's not gonna happen in the near future.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by Pants II

It's not going to work on big days. The internet is too slow nationwide to handle live bets that need to be placed in split seconds.

This requires new infrastructure and that's not gonna happen in the near future.

Its going to be like Wall St. The high frequency guys with the best computers and fastest connections are going to rape and pillage everyone.

[Pants II]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

Its going to be like Wall St. The high frequency guys with the best computers and fastest connections are going to rape and pillage everyone.

The Wall St. guys will be doing this because the market will be cratered by the time they expand it nationwide.

Hey...they've done it before.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by Pants II

It's not going to work on big days. The internet is too slow nationwide to handle live bets that need to be placed in split seconds.

This requires new infrastructure and that's not gonna happen in the near future.

I get your concern but betfair has an already established platform in a country with arguably slower Internet speeds that handles an astronomical (for racing) amount of wagers.

I sincerely hope this goes well because it's a game changer for the industry and for players. Selfishly, I view this as a potential career.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

Its going to be like Wall St. The high frequency guys with the best computers and fastest connections are going to rape and pillage everyone.

I tried to get API but need an account at Betfair tried opening account but couldn't cause I am in US... Still waiting for US folks to get back to me.

[Pants II]

Originally Posted by philcski

I get your concern but betfair has an already established platform in a country with arguably slower Internet speeds that handles an astronomical (for racing) amount of wagers.

I sincerely hope this goes well because it's a game changer for the industry and for players. Selfishly, I view this as a potential career.

I know their platform is solid and hope it works. I'll switch to fiber when it does.

[jms62]

I also have a feeling that this is Jersey's end around to eventual sports gambling. I have no intel just my thinking.

[Pants II]

Originally Posted by jms62

I also have a feeling that this is Jersey's end around to eventual sports gambling. I have no intel just my thinking.

Spot on. It has to happen. Now is the time with Vegas in turmoil. Everything is negotiable.

[richard burch]

I don't know, these 2 paragraphs really make you wonder......it reads so bad....

Other industry groups have been reluctant to endorse the site because of fears that racing fans and handicappers will increasingly accuse horsemen and jockeys of deliberately keeping horses from winning because one side in every exchange wager is betting on a horse to lose. Betfair has countered that its system is adept at identifying suspicious wagers and that the company has and will continue to cooperate with all investigations of betting patterns on the site.

Earlier this year, the Jockeys’ Guild held a panel at its annual assembly urging jockeys to use caution when riding at tracks that allow exchange wagering on their races, in anticipation of the launch of the site. The recommendations included declining to allow owners or trainers to pick up checks at restaurants or otherwise accepting gifts from horsemen, along with exercising restraint when discussing their horses’ chances.

[Kasept]

Dunleavy: Early thoughts on exchange wagering
By Jim Dunleavy

For the past several weeks, I have been playing on the beta version of the exchange-wagering platform that Monmouth Park and Betfair launched Tuesday. I am intrigued by the possibilities this style of gambling represents and think it will really catch on with players if rolled out to a wider audience.

Unfortunately, New Jersey and California are the only two states to legalize exchange wagering, and California is still working out its regulatory policies. For the moment, you can only participate if you are a New Jersey resident and are physically within state’s boundaries.

In exchange wagering, bettors can back or lay odds on horses in a particular race. If I lay, or bet against, a horse, I might put up $100 at odds of 5.5-1 (which is really 4.5-1 plus your money back). Anyone wishing to back, or bet, the horse at that price can take, or match, a piece or all of my offer.

But if someone thinks 5.5-1 is too short a price, they can post an offer to back that horse at say 7-1. If anyone wishes to give them that price, with a few simple clicks of their mouse, they can match part or all of the bet. Exchange wagering is all done via computer or tablet.

Horseplayers are always looking for value, but in parimutuel betting that basically comes down to betting a horse at a price you think is fair, or more than fair. Since exchange wagering is fixed-price betting – the price you get is set once you wager – players in some instances can create their own value.

Here is a example of how I played Wednesday’s fourth race at Louisiana Downs, on which I ended up losing $1.67.

I quickly handicapped the nine-horse field of restricted $5,000 claiming sprinters. I had never seen any of them race before.

When I compared what I thought the odds on the top choices would be at post time to the exchange prices being offered, they looked pretty much in line. But I noticed that someone was offering 30-1 on the No. 5, First Prize Dixie. I thought those odds were too high and that he would be shorter at post time, so I matched the $11 that was being offered at 30-1.

Because the Betfair software always gives you the best available price, I actually got 30.51-1 and stood to make a profit of $324.64 if First Prize Dixie won the race.

As the betting went on in the run up to the race, First Prize Dixie’s parimutuel odds dropped at Louisiana Downs and his exchange prices followed. I laid $10 against First Prize Dixie at 18-1, and somebody matched $9.33 of it. (I’m not sure if the odd number has to do with currency exchange rates, as players from overseas can bet into these pools, or if I was playing against a bot, or computer.)

Anyway, I stood to lose $158.61 to this player if First Prize Dixie won.

Overall if First Prize Dixie won, I stood to make $166.03 ($324.64 minus $158.61). If he didn’t win, I would lose $1.67 ($11 minus the $9.33 from my buddy the bot). That means I was getting 98-1 on First Prize Dixie, who eventually went off at 18-1 at Louisiana Downs.

As it turns out, he got to within about four lengths of the lead in upper stretch and then tired to finish eighth.

Here is what I have learned on the exchange site so far. Handicapping is still important, but not as much as in a parimutuel environment. Betting, strategy, and being able to estimate a horse’s closing odds play a much more significant role than in parimutuel wagering.

Quickly, another play I have been using with some success involves backing one horse in a race to win and laying another to lose.

It’s possible you can win both of those bets, or win one and lose one and hedge your losses. You also can lose both, however, if the horse you backed loses and the horse you laid odds on wins, so be careful.

I also have been able to get a number of overlays in the exchange pools, 6-1 or 8-1 on horses that are 9-2 shots at the track, for example.

* I have not yet seen or participated in any in-race betting, which is expected to be possibly the most popular part of exchange wagering. I believe Mountaineer offers in-race play, but it is not yet being offered on any of the tracks I have bet so far. In-race betting will be available at Monmouth.

* Exchange wagering is only available in win, place, and show pools.

[Kasept]

Impressions of Exchange from TimeformUS's Chris Rossi: http://crunktrunk.tumblr.com/post/14...st-impressions

[ScottJ]

Originally Posted by Kasept

[b]Overall if First Prize Dixie won, I stood to make $166.03 ($324.64 minus $158.61). If he didn’t win, I would lose $1.67 ($11 minus the $9.33 from my buddy the bot). That means I was getting 98-1 on First Prize Dixie, who eventually went off at 18-1 at Louisiana Downs.

This is precisely why exchange wagering represents a huge potential risk to both on-track and off-track existing handles : you have a true ability to hedge your bet, similar to using puts and calls from options trading. [With proper odds swings, you will be able to create winning positions without the race being run.]

[Kasept]

Helpful Blogspot on Exchange
http://exchangewagering.blogspot.com/

[Kasept]

Betfair encouraged by initial response to exchange wagering in New Jersey
By Matt Hegarty

http://www.drf.com/news/betfair-enco...ing-new-jersey

An official for Betfair U.S., which launched the first exchange-wagering platform in the U.S. two weeks ago, said in a statement on Friday that the company has been pleased with “several positive indicators” for the operation, but the company declined to provide detailed figures for betting or for the number of accounts opened on the platform.

In a statement in response to questions, Kip Levin, the chief executive officer of the subsidiary that owns the platform, said that the company has been encouraged by the amount of “liquidity” on the platform – a measure of the number of bets being offered on the site for each race – and by the volume of betting from players who were not previously involved in account-wagering in the state of New Jersey.

“The liquidity on the races offered to New Jersey players has been strong – that’s a good sign of the level of interest and, as people get more comfortable on the exchange, we expect it to grow,” Levin said in the statement.

Exchange wagering was pioneered by Betfair in the United Kingdom 15 years ago. The practice allows customers to establish odds on horses and bet amongst each other at those prices. The launch of the New Jersey platform is being closely watched by a variety of U.S. racing constituents, many of whom have been reluctant to strike deals with Betfair because of uncertainty over how the operation will affect the U.S. product.

Betting in the U.S. on the platform is limited to residents of New Jersey wagering while they are physically in the state, but customers of Betfair’s platform in the United Kingdom can lay and place bets with the New Jersey players. To date, exchange wagering is being offered on a handful of Thoroughbred tracks, including Monmouth Park, Woodbine, and the tracks running live in Louisiana and West Virginia.

It is unclear whether the majority of bets are coming from New Jersey players or British players. A portion of the British money is almost certainly coming from robotic wagering programs that seek to place and lay a multitude of bets to capture spreads between wagers on a single horse and grind out other small advantages that can be exploited on the platform using sophisticated risk-management strategies.

In his statement, Levin said that about two-thirds of the betting volume on the platform has come from people who were not previously customers of 4NJBets, the New Jersey account-wagering platform owned and operated by Television Games Network, which is owned by Betfair. TVG’s operation is the only licensed account-wagering platform in the state.

“That’s an area where we continue to focus, bringing new users to racing,” Levin said.

Over the past two weeks, many horseplayers have expressed curiosity over how the platform works and have indicated that they have successfully placed bets on horses at higher odds on the exchange than the odds through the parimutuel system, leading to significant price advantages. But others have also expressed trepidation with the prospect of laying odds on a horse, in large part because the practice is unfamiliar, but also because the liability of laying a horse generally exceeds the return.

“When it comes down to laying $500 to win $100 it’s not easy to pull the trigger when your whole life you’re doing the opposite,” said one gambler who has been using the system since the launch.

Dennis Drazin, the president of the horsemen-led company that operates Monmouth Park, said that he has been pleased with the rollout, but he said that many bettors have yet to fully embrace the platform because of their unfamiliarity with how it works. Monmouth Park is a partner in the platform, and receives an undisclosed portion of the revenue from wagering.

“It’s going to take time because as we’ve seen there’s a pretty big learning curve,” Drazin said. “There are a lot of people out there who are using it, but it’s more that they are fiddling with it.”

Frank Zanzuccki, the executive director of the New Jersey Racing Commission, said that the commission has not received any correspondence related to the site since it launched. The commission spent several years writing regulations governing the operation of the site.

[declansharbor]

Does anybody know whether or not Betfair has representatives on site at Monmouth guiding customers in need or helping further explain the platform to the bettors that might be struggling with the concept of it all? My cousin lives in NJ and seemed pretty interested in the idea but he would NEVER pull the trigger if he were to get no assistance from those 'in the know'.

"We all know he treats nickels like manhole covers". - Johnny Sacrimoni

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by declansharbor

Does anybody know whether or not Betfair has representatives on site at Monmouth guiding customers in need or helping further explain the platform to the bettors that might be struggling with the concept of it all? My cousin lives in NJ and seemed pretty interested in the idea but he would NEVER pull the trigger if he were to get no assistance from those 'in the know'.

"We all know he treats nickels like manhole covers". - Johnny Sacrimoni

Believe so, but will confirm..

Meanwhile: http://exchangewagering.blogspot.com/