The biggest betting race of the year, the Grand National, will be run at Aintree on Saturday. In addition to the millions of pounds staked in the hours before the race, punters sitting on an untold number of ante-post bets, some placed even before the weights were published in February, will also learn their fate.
Every one of those ante-post bets was placed in complete confidence that if the horse in question actually made it to the start on 6 April, the punter would get a run for their money. It is the same for every race with an ante-post market – including the Derby, the Gold Cup and many more – and it has been this way for generations. A bet struck in good faith cannot be unilaterally declared void by one of the two parties to the wager. It is a principle that underpins the integrity of the entire gambling market and industry.
Or rather, it was until the unwinding of BetBright last month, a week before the Cheltenham Festival no less, when the firm announced that its entire ante-post book, on racing, football and everything else, would be declared void at midnight with all stakes returned.
In racing terms, the BetBright situation was largely resolved when 888.com, which had paid £15m to buy the defunct bookies’ technology platform, agreed to honour its ante-post book on the Festival. The liabilities on football, however, were left in limbo until last week when, thanks in large part to the efforts of Rich Ricci, BetBright’s former executive chairman, BetVictor agreed to take on all outstanding ante-post bets (including, presumably, any on the National).
While all of BetBright’s 35,000 customers have now been dealt with fairly, a very worrying precedent remains. The justification offered for BetBright’s original decision to void ante-post bets was that it would benefit more punters than it would disadvantage, as punters whose speculative ante-post bets were effectively already losers would get their stake money back.
And what is truly astonishing is that, a day or two later, the Gambling Commission, which among other things is supposed to ensure that gambling is conducted in “an open and fair” way, agreed with them. It was, the Commission said, “content that the return of stakes, as part of an orderly closure of the business,” would be “the best option available for the vast majority of customers in what is an unusual and difficult situation.”
Defending its stance, the Commission also said that during its enquiries, “the operator highlighted the very real possibility of going into insolvent liquidation if it remained open” which “would have resulted in customers receiving no winnings and no refunds on stakes which had been placed.” It described this as “a significant risk”.
This, though, was after BetBright had announced the sale of its tech for £15m, a deal that would have taken many weeks to arrange and could easily have included a mechanism to cover any outstanding potential liabilities, which are believed to have amounted to around £1m.
Ante-post bets, by their nature, tend to involve a relatively small stake looking to win at big odds. Everyone involved understands that, on both sides of the wager. Yet the Commission decided– principally it seems on the basis of evidence provided by the bookmaker – that a trifling benefit to a relatively small number of punters outweighed the potentially shattering loss of money and faith for the backers hoping for a huge payout.
As a result, we now have a situation where any licensed firm can advertise and lay the best price in the market, safe in the knowledge that they can walk away if their position goes horribly wrong. And the Gambling Commission, it seems, will just let them do it. This undermines the integrity of the entire market, as odds could be advertised in the knowledge that the price will never be honoured.
For me, this also suggests a complete disconnection between the Commission and the millions of ordinary punters on whose behalf they are supposedly regulating the gambling industry.
When it comes to addressing and preventing problem gambling, it has a reasonable record, as it does on other issues such as preventing under-age gambling and keeping criminality out of the industry. But the Commission seems to have no understanding or interest at all when it comes to a fair deal for those who make up the overwhelming majority of the gambling community. Many thousands are having their accounts restricted or closed because they win. The Commission does not seem to care. And now they cannot place an ante-post bet without wondering whether it will actually be paid.
For all its efforts in other areas, the Gambling Commission’s continues to ignore its responsibility to ensure that gambling is “fair and open”. The latest bookie to walk away from ante-post bets was 188Bet last week, and this is a firm that is simply leaving from the UK market while it continues to trade profitably elsewhere. A terrible precedent has been set by the BetBright affair and unless the Commission starts to do its job, punters could be paying the price for many years to come.
Monday’s tips
Good ground has had a withering effect on the fields at Ludlow on Monday and just four runners go to post for the Boyne Cup handicap chase, with a first prize of £13,000.
It is, at least, a four-runner race in which all of the runners go to post with some sort of chance, though Timoteo (3.55) is a solid favourite at around even money. Burn Baby Byrne (4.25) has decent prospects too at a more attractive price, while Greyzee (4.45) should take the 10-furlong handicap at Chelmsford City after an improved performance last time.
Silvestre de Sousa, Greyzee’s jockey, is a positive booking for Swiss Cross (3.05) on the same card, while Stargazer (5.45) looks best on the day’s other card at Newcastle.
Chelmsford City 1.30 Fen Breeze 2.00 Klass Action 2.35 Maazel 3.05 Swiss Cross 3.40 Arctic Sea 4.10 Mustadun 4.45 Greyzee (nap) 5.15 Orobas
Ludlow 2.15 Smackwater Jack 2.50 Fox Appeal 3.20 Thounder 3.55 Timoteo 4.25 Burn Baby Byrne 5.00 Delegate 5.30 Dieu Benisse
Newcastle 5.45 Stargazer (nb) 6.15 Coup De Gold 6.45 Alkaamel 7.15 Blazing Dreams 7.45 Martineo 8.15 Klopp
Tips by Greg Wood
