AUSTRALIA has always had a reputation for seeking a fair deal for the ordinary man, so it’s no surprise that following complaints from punters some betting operators (or Wagering Service Providers, as they are generally termed), were less than willing to lay a reasonable wager, that action was taken to level the playing field.

Racing New South Wales brought in legislation that required all WSPs to lay wagers to win punters a minimum amount, dependent on both the size of the operator in question, and the prestige of the racing in question.

The upshot was that even small bookmakers were required to lay a bet to take out a minimum of $1,000 on any race in New South Wales, albeit only after certain deadlines (9am for afternoon racing and 2pm for evening fixtures).

The proposal met with a lukewarm response in some quarters, although the reception from punters was unsurprisingly positive, and other jurisdictions are set to follow suit, with Racing Victoria’s own Minimum Bet Limit (MBL) set to be introduced in just over a month.

It’s worth noting that the imposition on limits meant that previously restricted customers, including those who had accounts closed, also had to be accommodated.

Reports of the success of the venture are that the firms which have embraced the new rules have flourished in terms of their profits on racing in the state, with SportsBet the first of the major firms to fully embrace the change, betting to the new limits prior to the legislation taking force formally, and doing so from the moment prices were released, rather than only after the 9am watershed.

That’s no surprise on the surface given SportsBet are one of the more aggressive operators in the Australian market at present, but what might be surprising to frustrated punters in Ireland and the UK is that SportsBet is owned by Paddy Power Betfair.

EARLY PRICES

Paddy Power may not be the most bet-averse firm in these Islands, but when Barney Curley famously proclaimed “they wouldn’t lay two bananas to one banana” about bookmakers offering early prices, he wasn’t leaving them out of the equation, and Betfair Sportsbook, now a part of the same brand, has been a laughing stock since the day it was launched by Breon Corcoran.

If the firm, under the auspices of SportsBet, is willing to abide enthusiastically by MBL in New South Wales, even to the point of enhancement, then why the hell can’t I get more than £4 on a Group 1 race in the UK (I hear you ask)?

That’s a pretty fair question on the face of it, and if reports of an increase in both market share and bottom-line profit for SportsBet in New South Wales are true, then it seems bizarre that the same firm seem to want no part of a similar arrangement on domestic soil.

GUARANTEE

In 2014, Coral introduced in their retail estate a lay-to-lose guarantee of £5,000 for any race shown live on Channel 4, and with that initiative deemed a success, rolled out the concept to all races of class 4 and above, with a guarantee that any cash bet accepted in-shop after 11am would be laid to lose up to £2,000 as a matter of course.

Recently the firm committed to lay bets on any horse running under rules in Britain or Ireland to lose £500 from the same time.

Those amounts are not huge, and it’s worth noting that your “score each-way” on a 25/1 rag wouldn’t necessarily be accepted under the terms of that guarantee.

It is, however, a significant milestone in terms of what punters can expect, and the fact that it has continued to be rolled out to cover lower class racing shows that, as an initiative, it must be adding to Coral’s bottom line.

So, if the notion of offering a guarantee that certain bets will be laid without questions being asked is popular with both punters and bookmakers alike, then why is Coral the only firm to have taken such a stand?

The offer is not so generous as to invite catastrophe for the traders, and the imposition of a timeframe means that the early market volatility, which can be significant, is much less of a factor, so it seems that an industry-wide approach would be to the benefit of all in terms of fixed-odds betting.

Despite such observations, none of the other major firms want to be drawn into discussion about the possibility of lay-to-lose guarantees or minimum bet limits, and there are precious few in the racing media who feel the need to ask why not.

The irony is that if more punters were betting on racing in an earlier timeframe, then the early markets would be much more robust, which in itself would be a major boon to bookmakers, for whom late gambles in previously stagnant markets can spell disaster.

Forewarned is forearmed, they say, but nobody wants to read the warning signs.