Offshore Books afraid?

DSIuser · Jan 27, 2004

I am wondering why most offshore books only offer American sports?

1. No wide range of Soccer events.
2. No wide range of tennis events.
3. No wide range of European sports (handball, ice hockey, wintersports).
4. No wide range of basketball (euroleague, NBL).
5. No wide range of rugby, AFL.

Anyone know?

Are they afraid? Or is it that the majority of their customers (Americans i guess) aren't interested?

sportsadvisory · Jan 27, 2004

The answer is "afraid", which is why I respect books like 5Dimes, Pinnacle, and CRIS so much.

I've asked BHB 3 times in 3 different threads why they don't offer tennis lines and have yet to get a response.

They're afraid.

It's sooo much easier to just clone the american sport's lines and take money from all the suckers.

Most of these books couldn't carry a british bookmaker's jockstrap. Most shouldn't even try.

These are businessmen, not bookmakers. These are the same types who have taken over Vegas and ruined it for the real gamblers.

These books shoould be shunned.

[This message was edited by sportsadvisory on January 27, 2004 at 07:42 AM.]

Dante · Jan 27, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by DSIuser:
I am wondering why most offshore books only offer American sports?

1. No wide range of Soccer events.
2. No wide range of tennis events.
3. No wide range of European sports (handball, ice hockey, wintersports).
4. No wide range of basketball (euroleague, NBL).
5. No wide range of rugby, AFL.

Anyone know?

Are they afraid? Or is it that the majority of their customers (Americans i guess) aren't interested?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think its the majority of there customers are from the USA ..thats why I think it is

sportsadvisory · Jan 27, 2004

I live in the US and bet heavily on tennis, rugby, and aussie football (AFL).

British books ALL carry American sports even though the vast majority of their customers reside in the UK.

The British bookmakers have a tradition to uphold!

They are not afraid.

Chris@OlympicSports · Jan 27, 2004

Results are hard to find can be a reason

Arena Football player stat's are tough, if they ever did like NFL.com would be golden. We are going to go too more player props on TV arena games this season

DSIuser · Jan 27, 2004

Exactly, i use CRIS reguarly and its because they have taken the leap and offered a wide range of Soccer, including Latin. Aswell as european ice hockey, tennis & handball.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by sportsadvisory:
The answer is "afraid", which is why I respect books like 5Dimes, Pinnacle, and CRIS so much.

I've asked BHB 3 times in 3 different threads why they don't offer tennis lines and have yet to get a response.

They're afraid.

It's sooo much easier to just clone the american sport's lines and take money from all the suckers.

Most of these books couldn't carry a british bookmaker's jockstrap. Most shouldn't even try.

These are businessmen, _not_ bookmakers. These are the same types who have taken over Vegas and ruined it for the real gamblers.

These books shoould be shunned.

[This message was edited by sportsadvisory on January 27, 2004 at 07:42 AM.]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Chris@OlympicSports · Jan 27, 2004

Most of these books couldn't carry a british bookmaker's jockstrap. Most shouldn't even try.

and these are the same Bookmakers who keep the line the same in MLB when there is a pitching change, real sharp they are

DSIuser · Jan 27, 2004

Its not only British books tho, there are some books registered in Antigua, Maltese etc.. Which offer a wide range.

However it seems there are many who just target Americans, acting as if their customers aren't even interested in other sports.

Chris you are from olympic right? You guys used to have a HUGE range and then for some reason you cut it down drastically.

I was with TTLN company (webbookie.com) when you guys bought it out, they had a huge range too. But later you guys removed half your soccer offerings etc..

Seymour · Jan 27, 2004

Scared of Tennis, Rugby, etc. - Olympic is scared of BASEBALL! (this is not a rip on Olympic because they have offer alot of other betting options)

lander · Jan 27, 2004

If the book doesn't have an expert in the 2nd tier sports then the shouldn't offer the line.

It does no good for them to clone Oly & Pin if they don't know what the hell they're doing ...

sharp will eat them alive and they'll get steamed left and right.

Kudos to the few book that have the knowledge to book these, but I certainly wouldn't want to see some of my favorite books try to book some crap that they no nothing about.

valueman · Jan 27, 2004

If you want to bet Soccer, tennis, European sports, other basketball and aussie sport - try betfair - amazing selection and a great odds.

Chris@OlympicSports · Jan 27, 2004

No idea on soccer

theinvestigatorcr · Jan 27, 2004

It is not that they are affraid, is that they can't find good line managers for these sports. Simple as that.

With a line manager that knows about "other" sports they would put a line on anything, it is just that they don't have them. Quite hard to find.

HateTheRiverCard · Jan 27, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by lander:
If the book doesn't have an expert in the 2nd tier sports then the shouldn't offer the line.

It does no good for them to clone Oly & Pin if they don't know what the hell they're doing ...

sharp will eat them alive and they'll get steamed left and right.

Kudos to the few book that have the knowledge to book these, but I certainly wouldn't want to see some of my favorite books try to book some crap that they no nothing about.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Lander pretty well hit the nail on the head here, most books don't have linesman with expertise in those sports and to clone them and not be able adjust accordingly they leave themselves open to significant losses which most can't afford.

HTRC

historian · Jan 27, 2004

DSIuser,

The primary reason most books do not offer Euro sports is the lack of action. The offshore places that offer these due so only as a lost leader and write very little action. Even for the Austrailian Open the majority of action is by scalpers and not by serious bettors. It is pointless for a book to put up lines on events they will write no action on unless there is an injury or some other fluke. The tennis match with the most action so far was the Mauresmo match ONLY because scalpers saw an angle and it was a no-play since she withdrew.

The Euro shops put up tennis, soccer, and other sports with 10 to 20% juice to cover their inability to set a sharp number. Offshore places use a 20cent line which is 4.5% juice. The Euro shops need to get sharper or they will continue to lose business to the offshore spots.

Pinnacle, Olympic, CRIS, ABC, Jazz and i am sure many other shops offer much better lines on Soccer and Tennis than any of the Euro outs. Only Canbet is even close and they issued an earnings warning the other day.

And if anyone has ever done the math you will see that the average wager in Euroland is approximately $22 (see Sportsbook.com annual report) with many place accepting 1 pound bets. In the offshore world, only pure square shops like GCS are in that range while most of the stores on Don Best average $200 - $500 per wager. To put things in perspective, there is one store who writes more on one week of NASCAR than the total of the entire ATP tour and they put up every event.

Good luck to all

DickyW · Jan 27, 2004

Why put up something that is in another time zone that you know little about and the majority of your customer base could give a shit about? Is putting up German handball going to create interest to your targeted clientel? Or is it more likely to attract punters with inside info who know more then you?

kongen · Jan 27, 2004

As a side note to the 2nd tier sports. Greek writes more action on Soccer than NHL.

WildBill · Jan 27, 2004

Here is a one sentence answer:

Bookmakers are in the business to make a profit and whatever sports they think they need to offer to get that profit is what they will put up.

Enough said, there is no ego or talent issue, its all about risk/reward and if your whole business is built around a market where 95% of the action is on the 4 major sports and NASCAR, why mess with other things?

dngu047 · Jan 27, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR> Most of these books couldn't carry a british bookmaker's jockstrap. Most shouldn't even try. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You have to be joking right? Can you name one British bookmaker who will NOT limit punters who show even a vague flicker of intelligence?

wilheim · Jan 27, 2004

American bookmakers for decades only booked the big 3 - Football, Basketball and Baseball. Horses naturally are in a category of their own. Hockey has slowly crept into a distant 4th spot. Now along comes the internet and its a new ballgame (no pun intended). Bottom line like Dicky and Wild Bill among others have said, its all about your demographic. American males between 20 and 60 want to bet American sports. Ask a local in NYC for German Hockey and he will look at you like you just arrived from Mars. Bookmakers are like restaurants, they serve what their customers like.

wil.