Betfair and other Brit books

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I know that Betfair won't take Americans but my question is why?

Other British books like Canbet and Bet365 don't seem to have any problem taking our money even though its illegal to bet here.

Any ideas?
 

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No real information other than company policy.

According to the British White paper on gaming, bets are placed in the jurisdiction of the company server and not in the jurisdiction of your machine. This is of course open to interpretation and will require international negotiation and agreement (read the US wants its way or won't play ball). This policy protects principles from US prosecution since it is unlikely the US would want to trigger an international incident, even by indicting their own citizens who work in the UK industry.

Placing online bets within the US is not illegal in all States, regardless of DOJ opinions.

I believe that Betfair aims for global domination and by not antagonizing the US the company is positioned to obtain one of the first US online licenses whenever they become available. That plus the fact that the company does not need the US market for its business seems to make sense.
 

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All the UK books are gagging to get into the US market of course. If you win with one of the major UK books you will get paid, and you know it! No Spiros types, it's all regulated.
 

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James - thats a joke right, the british books wont last a year booking to the US market -

look whats already happened-
bet365 - scared shitless small limit book for the US stuff
betinternet - closed their US stuff to the US market - they were unprofitable - think they are trying to start over again - listed on the aim but they don't have much cash in hand - never made profit in any year lol lol
William hill - closed their US stuff to the Us market - got skinned - low limits ..........

these guys are the worst lol lol
 

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You can't go wrong with a European Book. Quote me if I'm wrong, but I can't seem to find a Post (Thread) stating that a European Book didn't pay. Thanks.
 

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Cattlerustler, bet365 are what you call a shit book anyway, they won't take anyone's bet, it's not an anti-American thing. Ditto Betinternet.
 

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I read an article stating some of the following(was it here?), the rest is conjecture on my part:

Beauçoup American inve$ting dollars have flowed their way(as well as to off-shores in general)... & with DA's all over the land threatening to haul in folks just for pitching ads-- you draw the conclusion-- for instance, our moronic DA in NY threatened 7 of the largest banks in the USA into not allowing their credit cards to be used for any wagering, even at legal sites like NY OTB & Youbet.
Pragmatic Betfair is trying to be conservative & innocuous-- avoiding enemies as much as possible.
Its philosophy is based on trying to sneak in, develop a substantial base before the natives(racetracks & moralists) wake up(even when it believes it has legal standing, as in Canada & Australia)-- then hope a light bulb clicks on in the head of some of those opposing when they see the amountS-- hopefully leading to some partnerships(like in one Australian province recently). That is much less likely to occur if it barges its way in.

All we need in the US is for one racing jurisdiction to want to start something, maybe use Betfair to handle it for them, then others will fall behind it like dominoes.

For instance-- in Canada it's highly debatable, to be kind, whether its presence there is legal; however, it gets away with it because it's not illegal for any Canadian to place place a bet with it-- however, it remains extra cautious by not openly marketing there AND by refusing credit cards from certain Canadian banks that also issue cards in the US, when it cannot determine for sure that a particular cc # was NOT issued in the US.

Another instance, Australia: one province authorized it explicitly, while others instead are making noises re passing legislation to ban it(technically it only needs expressed permission in one--no Australian in another province could be prohibited from availing themselves of what's legal in another one, such a happening would be unprecedented). So it's laying low in the other outspoken provinces.

Give it a couple more years-- by then its handle will too large to not attract feelers & offers. In the meantime i recommend, if legally able, to purchase its shares in the Bourse. Buy also some youbet, google, amazon, sirius, costco, magna(have some patience with this last one).

I would recommend to anyone to set up a verifiable location in Canada-- it's well worth the investment:
the liquidity, safety of investment, & wagering choices at Betfair are incomparable...as well too for the other type European books.
 

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That's right!

klowinns said:
You can't go wrong with a European Book. Quote me if I'm wrong, but I can't seem to find a Post (Thread) stating that a European Book didn't pay. Thanks.

Take for instance England: the regs are heavy--
deposits are held separately in escrow, there're mandatory periodic audits,...Any problem a customer has that's not addressed satisfactorily is rectified by complaint to an ombudsman / arbiter(think how a paypal or credit card is pro-customer in the US during a complaint, think how the EU keeps MS & Intel in check-- get the picture?).
 

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Calling IBAS pro-consumer is sure to get a good laugh out of any brits reading ;o)
 

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All I'll say is at least the British books have tried with US sports - more than can be said for the US counterparts. When US books offer fixed odds horse racing on Uk racing come back and complain about UK books.
 

Rx. Senior
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Christ, am I the only Brit dope, the rest are top class:party:

As I have said many times before, getting a bookie licence in Britain is easy and they do knock punters, its just the more real estate they have the less likely they are to do the runner. On the taking US bets, its a matter of opinion as to what each Company thinks will happen. Judging by the ones that dont take bets, it would appear that they expect at sometime the US Government to issue Licence's under very strict controls and as they have not broke the Law, would be first in line, the rest although being in a position as now, wouldnt have the Turnover as the legalised.:103631605
 

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UK licensed bookmakers are expected to abide by IBAS decisions. Any book refusing to do so would face ostracisation from the industry, no advertisement in the Racing Post or on odds comparison sites etc. Don't bet with any UK book which is not IBAS-affiliated, it is liable to be a scambook. If in doubt, best to stick with the books on www.bookies.com
 

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They're probably just afraid of getting invaded....

Happens to pretty much every sovereign government that disagrees with us....China and Russia get a pass because they can defend themselves...
 

Rx. Senior
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Brings a tear to my eye seeing all these London sharps posting:toast:
 

acw

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BetFair is already clearly on its return. Give it a few more years and we shall refer to them as the slow userunfriendly high vig small liquidity book.
Personally I am using them less and less. The place is full with traders. No point even looking at the prices anymore. With a bit of line shopping one will almost always find a better price somewhere else and if not, then often it is not a good bet.
 

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To be honest for Uk horse racing - I shop early prices amongst various bookmakers an invariably get a better price than betfair. Considering horse racing is where they should have their biggest advantage over sportsbooks, I was surprised when they only accounted for 8.3% of my turnover last year and 2.5% of profit.

They do have in running horse racing which unless you have an API, SIS and an ultra high speed internet connection you'd be a fool to play.
 

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mmmm

A few curious posts here. First off let's list the Uk and European books which have busted that I know of since 2002:

Lion Netbetsports Luvbet Sporting Options

I am sure I've forgotten a few, and I'm sure I only know a small proportion of the total. Note that in the case of S Options, the Betfair rescue bailed out small punters. Otherwise not a penny was paid out to punters by any of these busts.

IBAS gets a few plaudits in these threads but for all practical purposes it is the bookie's best friend. Unless the bookie has raided your house at midnight wearing a mask you are unlikely as a punter to get a favourable ruling.

What is undoubtedly true is that some UK books are more securely capitalised than a lot of second tier banks are during credit squeezes:

Hills Ladbrokes Paddy Power Corals Betfair

In the case of the non-exchanges this has been achieved mainly by having an army of mug punters willing to pay ridiculous juice. I can't see these books making any inroads into say Pinny's market share unless they considerably sharpen up. What would motivate them to do that exactly when they can make higher returns for lower risks milking the mugs in their own backyard?
 

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