betfair-on-the-front-foot-over-sport-gambling-cheats

Betfair on the front foot over sport gambling cheats
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21 August 2011

The leader of the international Olympic movement, Jacques Rogge, has called match-fixing and corruption as big a danger to sporting stability as doping.
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Unfortunately, sporting scandal and attempted misaligned wagering coups have all too frequently gone together, as current football match-fixing events in Finland and South Korea have shown.

Those occasions, like last year's furore surrounding 3 Pakistan cricketers - consequently provided restrictions - and the bowling of "no balls" against England at Lords, were linked to prohibited betting rings.

But for genuine wagering companies, whether conventional High Street outlets or more current online wagering organisations, these occasions all tend to be lumped together in the public's mind under the one heading of "gambling".

"Much of what we have actually seen has been from the prohibited Asian markets - there is a substantial difference between them and ourselves," states a senior detective at online betting firm Betfair.

"But it is everything about perceptions, and people simply see the headlines about gambling without looking deeper."
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It is to prevent such damaged associations with uneven betting rings that companies such as Betfair go to excellent lengths to keep track of the betting patterns on its website.

'Prevent, spot, examine'

The firm is the world's significant wagering exchange - a set-up that allows gamblers to bet on sporting occasions at chances set by other gamblers.

Betfair makes its cash by taking a commission from winning bets.

The firm's headquarters ignores the River Thames at Hammersmith, west London, and homes Betfair's corporate, technical, marketing, and user-experience groups.

But arguably the most important is the integrity group of eight people, which uses computer system and analytical tools to avoid criminal activity being conducted in with sport and betting, and to keep lawbreakers off the Betfair website.

"Our task is to avoid, spot, and investigate," says the Betfair private investigator, or "stability analyst", who asks not to be named since of his operate in handling criminal activity.
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"We work carefully with the authorities and other law-enforcement firms, betting regulators, sports bodies, and organisations which promote responsible betting."
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The challenges facing Betfair variety from possible match-fixing driven by unlawful gaming rings, to money-laundering, to individuals using taken or cloned charge card to bet with, to sportspeople utilizing inside info.

Betfair hosts chances on more than 40 sports and at any time there can be as numerous as 11,600 betting markets on the website.
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Customers sign conditions which permits Betfair to examine closely their background and, in particular suspicious scenarios, to pass their details on to the relevant sporting or legal authorities.

In addition it has actually likewise developed an early-warning computer system program called BetMon, which governing bodies can utilize to enjoy wagering patterns (but not consumer details) on the Betfair website for their sports.

And Betfair prides itself on its audit path to assist the cops or sports authorities in any investigation.

"Records are kept of each login and bet, event, choice, stake, chances, profit - if any - and approach of bet, along with the IP address of the computer system used to make the bet," says the Betfair analyst.

"Phone calls are likewise taped, too, for possible future referral."

Indeed, Betfair takes pride in its ability to spot suspicious betting patterns - in one of the most prominent cases it notoriously declined to settle wagers on a tennis match featuring Russian player Nikolay Davydenko in 2007.

The Russian retired from a video game in the Poland Open, and this came after "irregular" betting patterns on his match.

The company, which has contracts with a number of sporting bodies, consisting of the ATP and other tennis authorities - to whom it reported it worries in the Davydenko case.

The player was subsequently cleared of match-fixing by the ATP.

Sporting recommendations

Often criminal gaming rings target players or match officials in an effort to produce the wanted result of a sporting component.

Which is where people such as Simon Taylor, who has been the General Secretary of the Professional Players Federation (PPF) in the UK because 2006, can be found in.
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He is likewise is head of policy at EU Athletes, the European federation of player associations.
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In 2010, the PPF signed an arrangement with the Remote Gambling Association and its members, consisting of Betfair, to establish and deliver education programmes to players on sports betting and the prospective pitfalls.

this promotion code year the programme will be provided in person to 5,500 sportspersons and women in the UK.

"Our research revealed that 40% of footballers did not know the rules about not banking on competitors they were included in," he states, mentioning the value of player info.
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Mr Taylor said that often those caught up in unlawful gambling pressures were young athletes, particularly footballers, who could come under pressure from criminals who befriend them.

Those at the other end of their careers are likewise a prospective risk.

"You may have a veteran searching for one last pay day, but we explain that you will never ever get a job later on as a coach or in sporting PR. That is not going to take place if your name is destroyed," states Mr Taylor.

His organisation likewise provides recommendations and assistance for sportsmen and ladies who may struggle with problem gaming.

'Memorandums of understanding'

Eyebrows were raised amongst many commentators and industry figures in March when Betfair said it would be partly heading offshore.

By moving its betting licence from the UK to Gibraltar the company was no longer bound by any statutory commitment to notify Britain's Gambling Commission of any suspicious wagering.

However, Betfair states that not only is it regulated by the Gibraltar authorities, it likewise has memorandums of understanding (MU) with numerous sporting bodies to notify them of suspicious activity.

this promotion code includes Mr Rogge's International Olympic Committee (IOC), which signed up before the Beijing 2008 Games and can request the identities of account holders who wager suspiciously.

"Our UK licence required us to inform any suspicious information to the Gambling Commission," states Betfair's Susannah Gill.

"Technically we do not need to that any more, however we will continue to do this. That will continue forever.

"We realised back in the yohaig code early days that info sharing is main to sports integrity."

Betfair Corporate
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Professional Players Federation

Gibraltar Remote Gaming