What Quality of Service are we getting?

[Adonis First]

After several years of complaints (on highly screened forum boards even) betting exchanges eventually prominently published warnings to Clients not to assume that TV pictures said to be "live" were actually live! Long-standing exchange Clients can only guess how much money the spivs abstracted from us over that period. We do know how much we received in compensation though: NOTHING!

It is fact that any distortion of the perception of Time can have a highly perilous effect on bet offers we may submit (win or lay is immaterial).
The degree of distortion is irrelevant. If "what we see is not what we get" then we are being misled, accidentally or intentionally.
If we can be misled, we deserve a "caution" notice concerning all known areas where we can be misled. And it must be IMPOSED by the GC, not "voluntary".

1. If the matching queue is/can be frozen, Time perception is distorted.
2. If delays are applied only to the INCOMING flow of bet offers (but not to the incoming flow of cancellation requests!), Time perception is distorted.

So, I'd like to see a clear, "front page" notice, alongside the "TV delayed" cautions we already have, of all known factors which will distort the Clients' perceptions of Time (and thus jeopardise their chances of success, or overall profitability.)
I have written to the Gambling Commission and will let you know what they say.
Anything I've not included of substance?
Adonis
]

[Brian Ford]

For years big in running clients of a betting exchange were told all about how to intercept satellite feeds with the "raw SIS" signal. They were told that it was the only way to keep up with other high staking customers. Now this tells us that the exchange knew that the majority of their customers were being absolutely disadvantaged in betting on horseraces when the ATR pictures were 3 secs + behind live. The PR operatives of the Exchange were allover the original ATR and somehow managed to ensure that this channel promoted in running betting like it was the best thing in the world.

If it wasn't so serious it would be hilarious. It has echos of the old American gangster films with the illegal bookie taking bets on races that had already been run.

[Adonis First]

A big problem with this type of discussion though is that the henchmen and propagandists of organisations which have a LOT to lose simply pooh-pooh our observations - usually nominating us as "Bad Losers". Somehow mentally deficient because we choose to remain HONEST!
Huge amounts of money are involved, and you should not underestimate the degree to which some will go to silence such duscussion..........barring from forums and closing accounts are only the obvious actions. Considerably more sinister things are sometimes mooted.....EXACTLY the stuff (organised crime, for that is what this might eventually be proven to be!) which the Gambling Commission is supposed to keep OUT!
I am truly surprised that no-one at the GC seemingly has the nous required to take this bull by its horns and fix the problem, permanently. There again, I do sometimes wonder if the GC is there to serve and protect punting Citizens, or help itself?
Adonis

[Brian Ford]

The GC is there to keep its parasitic employees fed and watered. To do that they don't need to kill those they police they need to collect annual fees. BF probably keeps a good few of em in wages & pension contributions so why stir anything up.

you have to hand it to BF's Propaganda Unit and how successful they have been. A lot of people cricised the Gestapo but not many said they weren't good at doing what they did. So it's hats off to Pythia & His Pals, for now anyway.

If I remember rightly BF even had a satellite installer openly plugging his website where he sold systems to intercept SIS feeds. It was an ingenious way to build up liquidity. Target big players and offer them an edge. Fast pics players rob BF customers, but BF seemed OK with it. How strange.

[Gordon McIvor Wilson]

HONESTY in sport is a Big Issue. By which I must mean LACK of honesty in all arenas.

The more money is sploshed around, the worse it gets. Be it football, where Corinthian values have disappeared even from the Corinthian League (does it still exist?) and diving, wrestling in the penalty box, 'professional' fouls and the rest. Be it the F1 lethal conspiracy to gain advantage for a world-renowned manufacturer. Be it Bloodgate on the rugby field from a childhood role-model like Harlequins. And so on.

Racing, the sport of kings, has always had huge scope for fraud, deceipt and skulduggery. Betting must get caught up in this, hence the need for rigorous regulation and policing. This must be where the Gambling Commission stands or falls. The 'mis-selling' of wagers as our members describe in this Discussion thread is a zero tolerance issue. It sounds much the same as the TV companies gathering premium-rate phone revenues for illusory competitions.

Hugh McIlvannney in yday's Sunday Times (www.timesonline.co.uk/sport) addresses this issue in no uncertain terms. it is for us, the consumers of sports and sporting services, to speak out.

Sport deserves better of its governors and regulators.