While the news yesterday that William Hill are considering no longer accepting bets on certain football matches due to fixing concerns will probably not have too much impact on me, there is more disturbing news on BBC Radio 4’s The Report that a senior tennis official is stirring up trouble with regard to in-running betting on tennis matches.
Fortunately it seems to be simply because he is from the old school that thinks a bet is something you do before an event rather than because he has a good reason to ban it.
As Bill Babcock said, "I think the horse has bolted, I don't know how you retreat unless governments help us make the industry end this process where you can corrupt little parts of a match." As the Gambling Commission recently completed a review of in-running betting and approved its continuation, I probably have little to worry about.
I seldom trade tennis myself since the courtsiders take the value (and thus I am left with the bets no one else wants – no thank you), but that is my choice. Far better to allow betting and have everything out in the open where suspicious patterns can be noticed, than drive it underground where no one has a clue what is going on.
Friday 12 June 2009
Babbling Babcock
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4 comments:
Just letting you know I dropped a link to you on my newest blog entry for your comments on the radio 4 programme.
btw, Courtisders take the dead money, and don't neccessarily get the value. But to discern the value after this has been done is quite an initial hurdle to get over, ie. you really need to know what you are doing.
Cheers,
Matt
Punt.com
ok, showing my higgnorance again: I've heard of outsiders,& insiders
but courtsiders? ???
Not that it matters much as I only have a small interest when Wombildon starts - just have a small bet on the outright winner.
Backed Australia Day today, took 11-1 and got 14-1 at the death! Nice one.
Phil
Matt - I believe that the courtsiders get the short-term value, which is what I want! So my tennis betting is either mid-term or long-term, but I still find it annoying that I can tell the outcome of a point before I have seen it played.
Phil - don't follow horses, but if Australia Day is one, well done!
Courtsiders only sting you if you are trying to pinch prices point-by-point. If you sit back and make judgment calls, it's a different ball game. Did you catch my 20 seconds of fame on that Radio 4 segment?
Babcock also wanted to remove betting options like most double faults, most aces etc at the busniess end of tournaments. Anyone who thinks A - you can get set for large amounts on those fluff markets and B - a player at the business end of a major tournament is going to be remotely interested in that stuff, has rocks in their head...
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