SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
TAB bookmakers in New Zealand have been ordered to closely monitor potential arbitrage gamblers using their sports betting services, due to company concerns regarding professional groups placing fixed-odds wagers – ‘arbitrage’ sports wagering. TAB Bookmakers could action the closing of player accounts that they deem to be using arbitrage systems.
The New Zealand Herald newspaper reported that TAB bookmakers have been told to cull approximately 20 fixed-odds punters who they suspected were using their service for professional arbitrage. The practice involves punters taking odds on TAB betting markets before laying the off using a pooled betting exchanges such as Betfair (therefore arbitraging on bookmakers pricing). Professional gamblers have been known to use sophisticated computer programs to monitor betting markets and look for arbitrage opportunities.
TAB Bookmaker Tom Stafford commented: “Yes, we have been told to explain to some of these people that we will no longer take fixed-odds bets from them but we are talking about a very small number .Basically, these are professional punters, often using robot programmes, and we are not going to let them use us for arbitrage, simple as that. It has been going on for a while and it is not fair to us or the regular punter who simply wants to back their opinion against ours.”
“He is restricted to how much his bets are allowed to win because we are, after all, a business but he is fine with that. I know some people might paint this in a bad light but professional punters tend to understand this is standard practice around the world. But this isn’t going to be a factor for anybody who isn’t gambling right at that professional level.”
