BETDAQ

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BETDAQ is the trading name of Global Betting Exchange, a betting exchange operator based in Ireland. It is the second biggest betting exchange operator in the market, and has always struggled to cope with the advantage held by Betfair of being the first starter.^[1]

The company was founded in 2000 by leading Irish businessman Dermot Desmond and started trading in September 2001. Its headquarters are located in the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin, and it employs about 100 people.

The company offers betting markets on a range of international sporting and other events, and claims to handle in excess of £20M worth of bets every week. It operates separate international and UK versions of its main site, and in early 2006 launched BETDAQ Express, with a simplified interface and functionality.

In 2003, BETDAQ did not sign up to an agreement with the Jockey Club that granted the Jockey Club access to the company's customer records. Managing director of BETDAQ Rob Hartnett questioned the wisdom of having the Jockey Club responsible for the investigation of misconduct, rather than the police or the judiciary, asserting that BETDAQ "will not be a haven for crooked activity", but also stating that "We just want the Jockey Club and the whole betting industry to think this through." and "We will just not give potentially innocent individual's private details. It is just wrong.".^[2]

In 2004, the web site was one of several gambling web sites that reported having been attacked or that sent extortion demands by criminals prior to the start of the Cheltenham Festival.^[3]

In 2004, bookmakers William Hill accused BETDAQ of making "scurrilous insinuations" and of misleading the industry and consumers.^[4]

Interviewed as he left BETDAQ in February 2005, Hartnett made several comments on the company's initial launch and subsequent history. The company's initial aim at the high-roller end of the market "had allowed the competition to get a market leap on us", and "Our technology wasn't as good as Betfair's in those vital early days of building volumes and building the brand. So when we moved into the UK and the horseracing markets, we began a step-by-step improvement. But we were still behind — that was what the market was telling us."^[5] In a rare interview the preceding month with Racing Post journalist Jim Cremin, Desmond had accepted that BETDAQ "is not profitable yet" and had "cost him a fortune", but had stated that he "believes the medium-term prospects are encouraging".^[6]

In September 2005, BETDAQ reached the point that, in the words of Racing Post journalist Howard Wright, it could "no longer sustain a low commission rate for customers" leaving its "one discernible commercial advantage over the dominant market leader Betfair [...] gone".^[7] The company which, according to fellow journalist Bruce Jackson, had, when it had been first launched, prided itself on a 3% rate and offering zero commission, had "failed to match Betfair in the publicity stakes, along with liquidity on most markets" and moved to imposing a higher 5% tax rate on winners.^[8]

In November 2005, William Hill transferred its hedging activities from the racecourse to betting exchanges, primarily BETDAQ, prompting commentators to speculate that the "Big Three" bookmakers could take control of BETDAQ in order to undermine Betfair's market.^[9]^[10] Hartnett had been quoted in a 2005 interview speculating that a company such as BETDAQ could provide an ideal entry point to the betting exchange business for bookmakers such as William Hill and Ladbrokes.^[11]

In May 2006, the launch of Better, a bookmaking company that offered cash betting terminals (allowing punters to back or lay selections without having to register personal or bank details) linked to BETDAQ, caused controversy, with commentators and commercial rivals observing that this move by BETDAQ into untraceable cash opened the door for criminal corruption in racing. The managing director of Better, Ian Hogg, stated that the company had consulted both the Jockey Club and Levy Board, and explained that "the core difference [between] this and exchange betting from home is that our machines operate with a built-in margin that includes commission for both ourselves and Betdaq — crucially, that overall margin is similar to that involved in the SP. Therefore, we are in the same realm as a punter backing all the other horses if he wanted to oppose a short-priced favourite."^[12]

It also runs a website called Trader Games, where you can bet money against other players on how well you can trade certain markets. Although the website doesn't appear to be attracting much traffic.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2006 the company started a blog called BETDAQ Exchange Views, with contributions from the company's PR Director Russ Wiseman.

[edit] References

^ Charlie Brooks. "Desmond takes betting shops to cutting edge", The Daily Telegraph, 2005-10-27.
^ "Internet betting cleans up its act", BBC News, 2003-06-16.
^ Mark Ward. "Bookies suffer online onslaught", BBC News, 2004-03-19.
^ Will Sturgeon. "William Hill hits out at online betting exchanges", Silicon.com, CNET Networks, Inc., 2004-11-17.
^ Alex Hankin. "Net Prophet: Hartnett off on another mission into the future", The Racing Post, 2005-02-02.
^ Jim Cremin. "The Friday interview: Dermot Desmond: Im global and you could say I reside on the internet. I think about Betdaq every morning when I get up, and every night when I go to bed", The Racing Post, 2005-01-07.
^ Howard Wright. "The Fly on the Wall is left baffled by Betdaq situation", The Racing Post, 2005-09-16.
^ Bruce Jackson. "Betdaq justifies commission increase", The Racing Post, 2005-09-15.
^ "William Hill to hedge its bets on Betdaq", Bookmakers Review, BetReview Ltd, 2005-11-05.
^ anonymous (2005-11-05). William Hill start to hedge their bets on Betdaq. Bettingmarket.com.
^ "And Finally ... Desmond holds winning hand with Betdaq", The Sunday Times, 2005-06-25.
^ Ian Davies (May 2006). Words from the Chief. Newsletter. Punters Paradise.

[edit] Further reading

Janine Dalton (2005-04-09). Wacky BETDAQ. — Dalton reports her conversation with BETDAQ customer service over her placement of €1 bets.
Susan Mitchell. "Betdaq registers Turfdaq.com as betting service expands", Sunday Business Post, 2002-02-03.
Gavin Daly. "Desmond pumps €3.1 million into Betdaq", Sunday Business Post, 2002-06-02.
Howard Wright. "Layers face ban from hedging on exchanges", The Racing Post, 2003-02-23. — Wright reports on a 2003 attempt by the National Joint Pitch Council to enforce a rule that forbids bets being laid off "other than with an authorised bookmaker".