Betfair to set own SP?

[jetset]

BETFAIR TO SET OWN RACING START PRICE

Trials near completion and a December launch date likely

Internet betting exchange Betfair is about to embark on a new initiative that will see it offering its own starting prices to the gambling public, according to an article in The Guardian. The company is believed to be on the verge of allowing punters to place bets which will be settled at a new "Betfair starting price" - the price of a horse at the moment a race begins.

The move should boost gambler liquidity, but is also being seen as a clear challenge to traditional bookmakers, who settle the majority of bets at the official SP, returned by a team of reporters in the betting ring at the racecourse in question. Major UK bookie Stan James offers its own SP (see previous InfoPowa reports).

The Guardian explains that because Betfair makes its money through a commission on winning bets only, the over-round on its markets is rarely above 1 percent when a race starts. This means that the Betfair SP is likely to have the advantage over the official SP, which tends to have a margin of between 1.75 and 2 percent for every horse in a race.

Until now, however, Betfair punters have always been forced to take the best price on offer when they log on, or leave a "request" for a better price which may, or may not, be matched by other users. If they can bet at the Betfair SP, they should mostly be paid at a better price than the official SP.

In what has been interpreted as prepping the market, The Racing Post has carried "teaser" ads from Betfair for the last two days, suggesting that the exchange which "changed the face of betting" when it was launched in 2000, is about to repeat itself "in December 2007," suggesting a December launch date for the new service.