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08
November 2001 -
The Gambling Review
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the report of the
Gambling Review Body.
Our
comments are confined to Chapter Sixteen 'Fairness to the Punter'
and specifically sections 16.17 to 16.46 that deal with Bookmaking
and Racecourses and Starting Prices.
Currently
there are two companies that collate information on racecourses
and greyhound tracks and deliver that information to the off-course
betting industry. The two companies are Satellite Information
services (SIS) and the Press Association (PA).
The information each provides contains some common elements, runners
riders, results etc and some (betting odds) which is based on
the skill and judgement of each set of reporters employed by the
two organizations and this can differ both in timing and substance.
The Press Association are also one of the two partners in the
Starting Price Operation which the Review comments on in some
detail in 16.35 - 16.46.
The
betting information (shows) is used by both fixed odds bookmakers
and their customers, the Punters, to ascertain the latest betting
available on the racecourse and some bets are transacted off-course
at the odds reported as being currently available on the racecourse,
known as board prices. The information is also used by bookmakers
to ascertain liabilities they may have and by Punters to follow
betting trends taking place on the racecourse as an indication
of a selections chances.
The
betting information produced by each supplier independently provides
a system of checks and balances and by comparing the information
with the Starting Prices returned by a third independent body
allows a preliminary check on the validity of the Starting Price
return.
The
British Horseracing Board as a condition of the licences it is
issuing to the suppliers of information to betting shops is attempting
to impose the PA as the sole supplier of betting information,
including betting shows and SPs.
If
this situation is accepted then it will remove any opportunity
for choice and place control of this vital information in the
hands of the BHB.
Although
SIS is a dominant supplier in this field it is not a monopoly
and it has always been open to others to offer an alternative
service.
This situation was recognised and astutely exploited by Racing
Data when they set up an alternative service to SIS using PA betting
information, thereby offering bookmakers and punters a choice.
Television
broadcasters have also tended to use the PA as their supplier
of such information.
With
SIS and the PA providing betting shows and PA/Trinity Mirror producing
the SP there exists a further opportunity to cross check and validate
information.
The
result has been that a system of checks and balances exist which
is in the interest of all parties that will be removed if these
proposals are allowed to go ahead.
The
betting industry will no doubt also be concerned that if the BHB
can arbitrarily appoint suppliers of betting information they
will exert undue control and influence over an element that is
crucial to the betting industry, both in terms of turnover and
profitability.
It
is of great concern to us that the BHB are seeking to impose a
sole provider of betting information with the result that this
system of checks and balances will be lost, bookmakers and punters
will be denied choice and the provision of Starting Prices and
betting information will no longer be independent of each other.
The
BHB's proposal will bring about the very conditions that the Review
identifies as being preconditions for excessive returns for the
providers of gambling (page 77 16.8)
- fraud
or dishonesty (made more likely by the removal of checks
and balances)
-
inadequate competition ( because there will be a single
source of information meaning that all betting shops can only
offer the same betting odds)
- inadequate
information (because of the imposition of a sole supplier
removing the opportunity for choice and comparison).
We
thank you for the opportunity to put forward these concerns
Terry Ellis
Director
of Operations
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