UK punters to have access to HK pool betting

[ricky lake]

Dream On I say to myself ….but I must ask the question ??

as HK are going to allow money frpm TAB in Australia in the next year or 2 , with a good chunk of rebate going back to Aus racing …lovely and fair play

But

Why cant we have access as well under the same system

Now that would hit those scrounging bookies where it hurts !!!!

Wonder if Wit has any knowledge on this one

Imo

[wit]

hi Ricky

Last Wednesday, Singapore joined the US, Australia, New Zealand and Macau in >>commingling<<, whereby wagers on Hong Kong races placed with operators in those countries transfer to participate in the home pools in HK.

[TABCorp in Victoria came online mid-October 2014; TABCorp New South Wales was due to follow shortly after. New Zealand came in through its established commingling with TABCorp Victoria].

Macau participates in all HK bet types / pools. The others at the moment are in just the win, place, quinella, quinella place and tierce pools – >>though those pools do represent about 90 per cent of our turnover, so they are the most significant<< says Bill Nader, director of racing.

Alan Aitken, SCMP in Sep 2014:

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Nader also said there was a real push from American operators to expand their product offerings into the "lot for a little" bets.

"The US operators are working hard to add Triple Trio and Six Up. Because in the US fields are small and the odds are short, customers there are very exotic-minded. In California, players are Pick 6 crazy, so those operators are very keen to offer them our exotics."

Nader admits that getting to this stage has been more difficult than he had imagined when the Hong Kong legislation was passed in July last year [2013] to enable commingling.

.

"I thought the hard part would be getting the interface right, but it hasn’t been. Really the delays have come from legal and regulatory issues," he said.
======

Europe hasn’t been in the first wave of targets for commingling, but HKJC is quite open to Europeans coming on board – what it needs is an established, well-represented and enthusiastic local operator to take a lead and steer it through local regulatory and tax issues.

At the moment for GB, if Fred and his tote monopoly are not interested – and there seems not much sign of life there – then not much on the immediate horizon.

[ricky lake]

Cheers Wit , understood , my point is though , Fred has exclusivity to the tote for another 4 or 5 years at best , after that , it can be bought out …then a huge opportunity arises and smacks racing in the chops ….can anybody see the possibilities ….

Given that we will probably have the Bookies rep still in situ …its hard to see the bha making any positive move ,,,,but the jockey club can and could

They are the only hope of salvation ….mind you Im not hugely optimistic ….but as you have outlined the possibilities are just extremely promising

Will anyone ever grasp the nettle I wonder , because until they do ..announcements of increased prize money for grade 5 to 4500 , and grade 6 to 3500 per race , will be greeted as good news …when in fact is just pathetic in comparison to properly funded racing countries …

in my opinion this is sad news for our racing

[wit]

aussie site today quoting yesterday’s UK Racing Post:

http://www.thoroughbrednews.com.au/inte … 607&page=1

==========
…..the prospect of UK punters joining the party is slim.

"There were some discussions, but very cautious ones," [HKJC CEO] Engelbrecht-Bresges said. "The UK Tote seems to be in a very interesting phase, where the current owner doesn’t appear to invest very much in the business.

"We’re definitely willing to listen, but there still seem to be many different stakeholders in the UK who have to align themselves. It would not be appropriate for us to try expansion where the business values are questionable with regards to resource allocation and investment.

"You need a strategic partner and that has not materialised in the UK. Therefore we focus on immediate needs and where we know there is already a significant market that we can channel into ours."
=========

however, also today the SCMP has the tantalising line:

>> As of tonight’s Happy Valley meeting, bets on Hong Kong from Europe will be joining the commingling, taking a long route via Australia’s TABCorp. <<

http://racing.scmp.com/freeservice/news … 41217a.asp

not sure how Europeans can now get to HK through TABCorp – would it be eg through this TABCorp / Phumelela joint venture ?:

http://www.betab.com/aboutus.php

[Glenn]

Are you sure Engelbrecht-Bresges has got the right tote there? I think he must have mistaken us for somewhere else.

The GB tote raised its rake by 22% a couple of years back, the specific justification for which was to actively pursue international co-mingling deals for the benefit of all punters.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/o … ng-takeout

[ricky lake]

Good stuff Wit , its only a question of time before Europeam punters co mingle as well , perhaps through sites based on the Isle of Man, or maybe some sites based in France of Germany ..easily accessable by UK punters ….

But its coming ….Uk punters will find a way of migrating

, but it will be underground until such time as we wake up and realise, that its the way forward

very much appreciate the updates ….

[Author]

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