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Jockey Club Probe Into New Betting Exchange
27 Jun 2004

The Jockey Club is expected to grill a new betting exchange after it opened a loophole by which bettors can profit from backing non-runners. The punt2punt website, which is operated by The Gaming Bourse, went live on Monday and has begum advertising an offer of no deductions for non-runners.

According to the Racing Post: ”The effect of non-runners on an existing market is covered in fixed-odds gambling by Rule 4, and by deductions based loosely around that on the established major betting exchanges Betfair, Betdaq and Sporting Options.

”Layers cannot profit from taking bets on a non-runner on the day of the race as stakes are returned to the person having the bet. However, by removing deductions and betting on all races under ante-post rules, those who lay a non-runner can keep the money.”

Rob Hartnett, managing director of Betdaq, reacted angrily to the news, calling it 'nothing short of crazy'.

'Creating a level of deduction that is fair to both backer and layer is one of the hardest tasks for any betting exchange,' said Hartnett. 'But to remove it altogether is not the right way to go about it - the only punters it will tempt are those who can lay non-runners through inside information. It's like a builder deciding that he can construct cheaper houses by leaving the walls off.'

Jockey Club spokesman Owen Byrne said: 'First and foremost the Jockey Club does not regulate betting and has no say on the terms and conditions various betting companies offer. However, the Jockey Club regulates licensed and registered people, and last year introduced a rule making it a breach of the Rules of Racing for an owner, trainer, or member of stable staff to lay their own horses to lose - and obviously laying a horse you know to be a non-runner is part of this.

'We have set up Memoranda of Understanding with the majority of betting exchanges through which we can police this, and will be making contact with those who operate this site.'

source:- http://www.onlinecasinonews.com

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