Betfair faces criticism for massive rise in charges
By John Cobb Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Betfair, the betting exchange which holds a dominant position in the market, has dismayed its customers and delighted its rivals by hiking charges for the most successful punters from around five per cent to 20 per cent.
The firm was quick to point out yesterday that the new "Premium" charges will affect fewer than 0.5 per cent of its customers, but the bombardment of the firm's online betting forum by punters reflected a more widespread anger at the rise.
The charges will affect the growing numbers for whom trading on betting exchange markets has become a full-time occupation, but those who aspire to that position are equally dismayed.
"Customers who traded with us today, some after an absence, were concerned that the next change might affect them," said Iain Turner of WBX, who along with Betdaq are the rivals most likely to benefit from the departure of customers from Betfair.
In particular, it is the highly active customers who provide liquidity by seeding the market who would be most missed by Betfair and greeted warmly by their rivals.
According to Betfair, "more than 98 per cent of winning customers would not have been charged" if the rate had been in place over the past year. It is to host a question and answer session on its forum tonight and can expect to come under fierce fire.
About Me
- Cassini
- I have had a life-long interest in sports and after studying Pure Mathematics with Statistics at secondary school, have been fascinated by odds and probability. The first system I came up with was a simple one - back the favourite and double up after a loss until a winner. Simple enough in theory, and I told my Dad about it. Not being a betting man himself, he ran it by some of his colleagues, and came home to tell me that it wouldn’t work because a long losing run would mean that the bank would be empty. Then there was always the possibility that the winner would be returned at odds-on, meaning that the total returns would not match the outlay. Not what a ten year old wants to hear! Only slightly daunted, I then went on a search for the Holy Grail, the secret to riches that I knew was out there somewhere. Finally in 2004 I stumbled across an article about Betting Exchanges and four years later I was able to make a steady profit.
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