BOOK OF THE DAY: JACK ANDERSONreviews You Bet: The Betfair Story and How Two Men Changed the World of GamblingBy Colin Cameron HarperCollins 308pp, £15.99
EVER SINCE the Romans drew lots at the foot of the Cross, gambling has attracted a certain notoriety.
The Romans were inveterate and innovative gamblers. The system of handicapping, well known in modern horse racing, is generally thought to have been conceived because of concerns that chariot racing at the Colosseum was becoming too predictable.
This book is also about an innovative way of betting on sport.
Cameron introduces us to the two Englishmen behind Betfair, an internet betting exchange company founded in 2000.
In its first year, Betfair made a loss of almost £2 million (€2.37 million); a recent valuation estimated that it is worth in excess of £1.5 billion. Cameron shows us how and why the company will soon mark a decade of phenomenal success.
The appeal of this book is that, not only do we get to meet that most eclectic mix of characters, known collectively as gamblers, but we also get an account of a very modern success story.
In fact, this book is more about enterprise and clever marketing strategies than it is about sport and gambling.
Betfair is, in essence, an eBay for gamblers. Its website permits gamblers to bet with each other directly and to offer or take any odds they see fit on a chosen sports event. The original idea is credited to Andrew Black, who was frustrated that his interest in backing horses was curtailed by the fact that, up until the 1990s, bookies in Britain generally offered only fixed-odds on races and that you either had to be at the racecourse or go to a bookmaker’s shop to place a bet.
In 1998, Black met Ed Wray, described as a “a well-seasoned City man”, who was intrigued by the idea that, by using existing stock market computer software systems, one could bring advanced technological innovation to the world of sports betting and appeal to gamblers directly through their home computer. The plan worked spectacularly, to the point that, in 2008, Betfair was handling five million transactions a day – more than all of Europe’s stock markets combined.
In some ways, the story that surrounds Betfair is cliched but, in this case, it is none the worse for it. The idea has that “why didn’t anyone think of it before” simplicity. There is the almost obligatory lack of enthusiasm from venture capitalists and the initial hubris of the leading players in the betting industry.
Black and Wray also had, as good punters generally do, an element of luck. Their enterprise coincided with the liberal and modern regulation of betting in the UK Gambling Act 2005.
However, Cameron overplays the influence of Betfair’s success on gambling policy in the UK. For centuries, governments’ interest in gambling has been less in innovative ways of placing a bet and more in innovative ways of taxing the profits.
Overall, this story of how Betfair is replacing the tic-tac man of the racecourse with the tap-tap of the keyboard is well told by Cameron who, apart from one brief chapter, does not enter into the ethical debate on gambling. Moreover, the book only touches upon the potential conflicts of interest that might arise as Betfair and similar companies become increasingly important sponsors of major sporting events.
Finally, this thoroughly enjoyable book has a number of points of interest for Ireland.
It highlights that our gambling laws are badly in need of amendment. It also illustrates that, until broadband is genuinely available throughout the State, the potential for e-commerce- based enterprise will, unlike Betfair, remain unrealised.
Jack Anderson lectures in sports law at Queen’s University Belfast. His next book,
Modern Sports Law
, will be published later this year by Hart Publishing